RIGHT 



URTISD.D. 




BIOGRAPHY 




Class _ 
Book_ 






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CoRTlghtN". 



coi'YRiGirr DEPosrr. 



Rt. Rev. ALFRED ALLEN CURTIS, D.D. 

Second Bishop of Wilmington, Delaware 





{^.'Ic^.^f^^u^ 



LIFE AND CHARACTERISTICS 

OF 

RIGHT REVEREND 

ALFRED A. CURTIS, D.D. 

Second Bishop of Wilmington 



COMPILED BY 

THE SISTERS OF THE VISITATION 
Wilmington, Delaware 



WITH A PREFACE BY 

CARDINAL GIBBONS 



? 



P. J. KENEDY & SONS 

PRINTERS TO THE HOLY APOSTOLIC SEE 
44 Barclay Street New York 



3X^1os 



J^lja Ofafftat : X^ 7 7 V fe 5 

Remigius Lafort, S.T.L., 

Censor. 



Smpnmatur : 

►J^JoHN M. Farley, D.D., 

Archbishop of Neiv York. 



October I2, 1913 



JAiN 1 1914 



Copyright, 1913, by 
P. J. Kenedy & Sons 



©CI.A3G2200 



■ ^ 



The Right Reverend Monsignor 
JOHN A. LYONS 

VICAR-GENERAL OF THE DIOCESE 
OF WILMINGTON 

FAITHFUL AND LOYAL FRIEND OF 
THE LATE 

Right Reverend Alfred A. Curtis, D.D. 

WHO HAS so KINDLY FURNISHED THE WRITER OF THIS 

HUMBLE SKETCH WITH VALUABLE NOTES 

AND REMINISCENCES 

tCjjijf 'Volume 

IS GRATEFULLY INSCRIBED 



Declaration 

According to the decree of Urban VIII, we declare 
that if we have made use of any terms of veneration 
In this book, they are meant solely in the sense author- 
ized by Holy Church, to whose judgment we submit 
with filial affection. 



PREFACE 

FOR many reasons I am glad to introduce and rec- 
ommend the " Life " of the Right Reverend 
Alfred A. Curtis, D.D. 

Although he was a self-educated — In contradis- 
tinction to a college-bred — man, yet he early attained 
to real scholarship In ecclesiastical learning. His 
knowledge of the Sacred Scriptures, which he read in 
their original Hebrew and Greek, and of the Fathers 
of the Church, also read in their Greek and Latin texts, 
was deep and accurate. From these pure sources of 
Christian truth he drew rich material for his unique 
preaching, his sermons portraying an originality of 
thought, a precision of language and an earnestness of 
delivery peculiarly his own. Moreover, his character 
of sterling honesty, his hatred of sham, his practices of 
mortification, sense of duty and many other virtues are 
even stronger motives for writing his biography. 

Then there was that test, proof of religious faith and 
love, next to martyrdom: that uprooting of himself 
from dear lifelong surroundings, that tearing of ten- 
drils and breaking asunder of interlacing branches of 
personal friends and religious bonds, suffered by every 
man who is transplanted into a higher place of spirit- 
ual obedience in the vineyard of the Lord. 

While for these reasons I commend the subject of 
this book, I congratulate the writers, the Sisters of 
the Visitation of Wilmington, who have surprised me 
by bringing to light letters of keenest Interest. This 
is all the more delightful, as I had fancied that the 



Preface 

good Bishop's hatred of notoriety had made It quite 
impossible to gather any such documentary evidence of 
his life-story. 

From what I have already perused of the manuscript 
copy of " The Life," I feel sure that it will not only 
charm and edify the many personal friends of Bishop 
Curtis in Maryland and Delaware, but I also hope 
that as the Life of Newman in England, so that of 
Bishop Curtis in America, may become a signboard, 
pointing out to many a religious traveller " the way and 
the truth and the life." John xiv. 6. 

J. Card. Gibbons. 
The CATHEDR.fL. Baltimore, 
Feast of Saint Mark, 1913. 



AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION 

THIS humble sketch, as simple and unpretending 
as the life of the noble soul whose characteristics 
It endeavors so inadequately to portray, Is the fruit of 
obedience. Furnished with this passport In which we 
are told " all Is safe," we have every hope that our 
labors will be blessed, and should the perusal of this 
biography make our readers better acquainted with the 
holy Bishop, or inspire a deeper love of the spiritual 
life, our mission will be accomplished. 

Should any be tempted to think the Bishop's fasting 
and penance too austere, his long hours of prayer ex- 
treme, his love of poverty and simple living eccentric, 
and his views Incompatible with modern Ideas, let them 
for a moment consider the lives of other men eminent 
for holiness, and note the presence of these charac- 
teristics In a marked degree. The Bishop was in the 
world, but conspicuously out of It, while his wonderful 
knowledge was veiled by a modest simplicity. He was 
always hard on himself, but his tenderness and leniency 
for others could scarcely be exceeded. 

Afflicted with the true homesickness of the saints he 
lived on a plane elevated above the low and perish- 
able things of earth, and his occupation with the in- 
visible world caused him to soar to the Infinite, where 
In the extremity of his anguish he exclaimed, " I long 
to be dissolved and to be with Christ." 

Convent of the Visitation, Wilmington, Delaware, 
Feast of Our Lady of Good Counsel, April 26, 19 13. 



Letter of Right Reverend John J. Monaghan, 
Bishop of J^y liming ton, to the Sisters of the Visi- 
tation of Wilmington. 

My dear Daughters: 

I have learned with genuine pleasure and satisfac- 
tion of your purpose of writing and publishing the 
" Life and Characteristics " of my predecessor of holy 
memory, the late Rt. Rev. Alfred A. Curtis, D.D., the 
second Bishop of Wilmington. 

Knowing well as I do the intimate relations of your 
community with him, not only whilst Bishop of this 
Diocese, but also In the eleven years that followed his 
resignation of the See of Wilmington, during which 
time he came to you, week after week, to discharge 
for you the office of Confessor and Spiritual Director, 
I cannot but consider you eminently fitted for the work 
of writing his life. At the same time your grateful 
devotion to your saintly Father must make it for you 
a labor of love to gather from every possible source 
the details of his edifying life, and to interpret to 
others, who knew him, not as you knew him, the ad- 
mirable character of this chosen servant of God. 

May your undertaking be blessed with success, and 
may It help to keep alive amongst us the sweet memo- 
ries of his virtues and apostolic zeal. May It serve also 
to perpetuate the holy Influences which Bishop Curtis 
exercised over our beloved Diocese of Wilmington. 

Yours faithfully in Christ, 

IjlJOHN J. MOXAGHAN, 

Bishop of JVilmington 
Feast of St. Francis de Sales, January 29, 191 3. 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER I 

I 831-1862 

Birth and Early Education — Made a Deacon and receives 
Orders in the Protestant Episcopal Church 3 

CHAPTER H 

I 862-1 872 

Rector of Mt. Calvary Protestant Episcopal Church, Balti- 
more — Religious Convictions — Tending to Rome — Corre- 
spondence with Bishop W. R. Whittingham — Resigns Rector- 
ship OF Mt. Calvary Church 10 

CHAPTER HI 

1872 

Goes to England — Last Letter to Bishop Whittingham — 
Answer to the Letter 25 

CHAPTER IV 

1872 {continued) 

Visits Oxford — Birmingham — Interview with Dr. Newman — 
Former Parishioner's Letters I — II — III — Reply . . 37 

CHAPTER V 

1872-1875 

Returns to America — Enters the Seminary — St. Mary's 
OF St. Sulpice — St, Charles College — Rev. J. B. Tabb, 
Poet Priest — Elevation to the Sacred Priesthood — Made 
Secretary of the Most Rev. James Roosevelt Bayley . . 6^ 

xi 



Contents 

CHAPTER VI 

1 875-1 886 

Life at the Cathedral — Parochial Work — Preaching — 
Visiting the Sick — Death of Archbishop Bayley — Arch- 
bishop Gibbons — Death of Fr. Curtis' Mother — Conver- 
sion OF his Brother — Organizes a Sodality of Children of 
Mary — Meeting of the two Future Bishops of Wilmington 

— Summer \'acations — Visit to ^Rome and Third Plenary 
Council of Baltimore — Death of Archbishop Seghers — 
Election to See of Wilmington 77 

CHAPTER VH 

1886 

The " Diamond State " and its Environs — Maryland and 
its Missionaries — Jesuits of Bohemia Manor — Pioneer 
Priests — "Delmarvia" Peninsula, its Bishops — Consecra- 
tion OF Bishop Curtis in the Baltimore Cathedral — Ser- 
mon BY Rt. Rev. T. A. Becker — Installation in St. Peter's 
Cathedral at Wilmington — Words of His Eminence Cardi- 
nal Gibbons 93 

CHAPTER VHI 

1886-1888 

The Bishop's Household — Preaching — Fasts — Austerities 

— Vigils — Private Life — Work of the Diocese . . . 102 

CHAPTER IX 

1888-1893 

Rural Missions — Labors — Privations — First Church erected 
BY the Bishop — Mission of Cape Charles — Dedication 
and Consecration of Church — Rev. Edward Mickle its Pas- 
tor — Salisbury — Oblates of St. Francis de Sales — West- 
over, Md. — Letters — Preaching — Churches. . . .118 

CHAPTER X 

1 888-1 893 (contitiued) 

Orphan Asylums — The Franciscans — The Bishop's Visits 
to the Catholic Protectory — The Benedictines — The 
Visitation Nuns — Letters — Spiritual Direction . . . 134 

xii 



Contents 

CHAPTER XI 

1893-1896 

He establishes a Visitation Convent of Exact Observance — 
He writes to Annecy on this Subject — Presides at the 
Installation of the Superioress from Annecy, Mother M. 
Alexandrine de Butler — Engages the Ursulines to re- 
place the Visitandines in the Work of Teaching — Trans- 
lation OF Community to the New Monastery — He conse- 
crates the Chapel — Exhortations — Rumors of his Res- 
ignation of the See of Wilmington — Letter .... 152 

CHAPTER Xn 

1896 

Titular Bishop of Echinus — Recapitulation of the Bish- 
op's Work in the Diocese of Wilmington — ■ Farewell Ad- 
dress to his People — Comment of the New York Sun — 
Parting Gift of the Congregation of St. Peter's — His For- 
mer Vicar-General accompanies him to Baltimore — Con- 
tinued Interest in the Diocese — Rt. Rev. John J. Mona- 
ghan — His Various Works in the Diocese . . . .163 

CHAPTER Xni 
1897-1907 

Cardinal Gibbons' Words of Appreciation upon Bishop Curtis* 
Return to Baltimore — Private Life at the Cardinal's 
House — His Prayer and Self-denial — Made Vicar Gen- 
eral OF the Archdiocese — Lecture on Snakes — Silver 
Jubilee of his Ordination — His Spiritual Trials — His 
Mortification — Judgment of a French Prelate — The 
Bishop's Opinion of Worldly Music in the Church — His 
Almsdeeds — His Vacations — Letters from Florida — 
His Labors — His Illness — Extracts from Letters — Makes 
Will — His Solicitude for his Sisters — Sentiments on the 
Death of one of his Sisters — Ordaining and Confirming . 173 

CHAPTER XIV 

1908 

The Bishop's Failing Health — Presentiment of Approaching 
Death — He prepares to resign his Office of Vicar-General 
— Last Confirmations and Ordinations — Instruction to 

xiii 



Contents 

Confirmation Class — His Increasing Sanctity — The Shadow 
OF THE Cross — Last Visit to the Visitation at Wilmington — 
Quotation from Convent Annals — The Bishop consults a 
Specialist — Letter stating Result of the Consultation — 
His Heroic Fortitude — The Bishop goes to Ocean City — 
Says his Last Mass — Conducted to St. Agnes' Sanitarium, 
Baltimore, by the Very Rev. John A. Lyons, V.G. — Monsignor 
Lyon's Letter — The Bishop's Reception at St. Agnes' — Many 
Visitors — His Faith and Patience — Visits of Cardinal 
Gibbons — The Bishop foretells the Day of his Death — 
His Poverty — His Holy Death, July the iith — Veneration 
AND Esteem in which the Bishop was held by Clergy and Laity 
— Laid in State at St. Agnes' Sanitarium 190 

CHAPTER XV 

1908 

Remains removed to Baltimore Cathedral — Laid in State — 
Office of the Dead — High Mass of Requiem — Funeral 
Oration by Rt. Rev. P. J. Donohue — Cardinal Gibbons per- 
forms Absolutions — Pall-bearers, Honorary and Active — 
Holy Remains transported to Wilmington — Again laid in 
State in St. Peter's Cathedral — Pontifical High Mass of 
Requiem — Eulogy by Dr. Wm. Temple — Absolutions read 
BY Rt. Rev. J. J. Monaghan — Solemn Procession to the 
Visitation Convent — Burial — Inscription on Tomb . . 204 



LETTERS 



219 



PART SECOND 

I SPIRITUAL COUNSELS 237 

II EXHORTATIONS 305 

III SERMONS 323 

IV NOTES FOR RETREATS 377 

V NOTES FOR THREE HOURS' PRAYER . 419 

VI EXTRACTS FROM THE EARLY FATHERS 433 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

Bishop Curtis, as Titular Bishop of Echinus Frontispiece , 

Page ^ 
The Bishop when Rector of Mt. Calvary Protestant 

Episcopal Church, Baltimore, 1862 .... 10 

Facsimile of a Note by Cardinal Newman, 1872 . . 75 

The Bishop when Priest at the Cathedral of Balti- 
more, 1875 78 

Bishop Curtis as Bishop of Wilmington, Del., 1886 104 

Interior of Old St. Peter's, 1886 iio^/ 

Interior View of St. Peter's, 1905 164 

Bishop Curtis' Tomb, Cemetery of the Visitation 

Convent, Wilmington, Del., 1908 .... 214*^ 

Bronze Memorial Tablet in St. Peter's Cathedral, 

Wilmington, Del 218 ^■'' 



1 



LIFE OF 
RT. REV. A. A. CURTIS, D.D. 



RT. REV. A. A. CURTIS, D.D. 

CHAPTER I 
1831-1862 

ALFRED ALLEN CURTIS was born on July the 
fourth, 1 83 1, near Rehobeth in Somerset County, 
Maryland, of an old and very estimable family, whose 
ancestors had lived on the eastern shore of that State 
as early as the Colonial times. Shortly after his birth, 
his life being in danger, his parents called in a Metho- 
dist preacher to baptize him, although they attended 
the Episcopal church in the village.^ Little is known 
of his early life, aside from the fact that he was de- 
voted to reading and study, having inherited this taste 
from his father, who, besides being a farmer and 
county surveyor of the district, followed his attraction 
for teaching, and opened a small country school near 
Rehobeth.^ It was here young Alfred had all the class 
instruction he ever received, which he put to such good 
use, that at the age of fourteen he had learned by heart 
the Latin grammar, and with the assistance of a dic- 
tionary he so completely mastered a Virgil which he 
bought at the time, that he never afterwards, as he 
himself admitted, had any difficulty in reading Latin. 
Taking the book as his only companion in his long 
walks through the forests, he at first read it from 
cover to cover three times ; analyzing the words, noting 

^ The walls of the little brick Episcopal church at Rehobeth are all that 
remain to mark the place of worship, which the Bishop so faithfully at- 
tended in his boyhood and youth. His Father is buried in the church 
yard, but the place is so overgrown as to render it difficult to distinguish 
his grave. The bishop has been seen kneeling there in prayer, when making 
the rounds of his diocese. 

2 The village of Rehobeth on the Pocomokc River is of little importance 
to-day, having rather decreased in size since the year 183 1; it now counts 
but two stores, and a few inhabitants. Tlie Episcopal church has been re- 
placed by one of the Presbyterian denomination. 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

closely the construction of sentences and even parsing 
them; he managed with his logical mind to grasp 
the whole of its contents. This encouraged him to 
pursue the study of Greek which he also accomplished 
by himself, and succeeded in learning this language so 
perfectly, that it is said by his contemporaries in the 
priesthood, he had hardly a superior in the United 
States. '' He also acquired a complete mastery- of 
Blackstone's Commentaries which added to his felicity 
of language, and the natural acumen of his logic, the 
rare power of legal exactitude," says one of his most 
devoted friends and admirers. He took pleasure in 
discussing the classics with the rustic lads at the gro- 
cery store, and it is needless to say, that this custom 
fell into disuse when our bright scholar left them to 
follow a higher vocation in life. But his most delight- 
ful pastime was reading and memorizing the English 
poets, and it was this recreation which served to store 
his mind with the wonderful vocabulary that he pos- 
sessed in so eminent a degree, giving him at the same 
time an immense command of English. He learned 
by heart many of Shakespeare's plays, also Byron's 
Childe Harold, which he could recite with ease. It 
was at this early period of his life that the great 
strength and power of his character began to manifest 
itself. With the wisest of kings he might have said, 
'' God has given me a good soul," and this soul he de- 
termined to cultivate; for the earnest youth was an 
obedient son, a conscientious worker and student; and 
last, but not least, faithful to God and his religion, ac- 
cording to the light he had received. He could be 
seen regularly assisting at the Sunday services, in the 
little church at Rehobeth. Alfred endeared himself 
to all by his remarkable candor, for his unswerving 
fidelity to truth made him detest the least duplicit}^ in 
word or deed, so that he was often heard to reproach 
himself for having deceived his father, when following 
his attraction for reading, he would steal to the garret 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

where forbidden books were stored, and there spend 
hours devouring light and romantic literature. He 
was ardent and impulsive in whatever he undertook, 
whether work or play, and although of a quick and 
fiery nature, he possessed a most loving and forgiving 
disposition, which led him to be always the first to 
make satisfaction, in the little contentions he encoun- 
tered with his young companions. This quickness 
of temper was to be his battlefield in after life, and 
those who witnessed the sublimity of his virtue can 
attest that he became one of the meekest and humblest 
of men, by his magnanimous courage in conquering him- 
self, thus realizing that " He who ruleth his spirit is 
better than he who taketh cities." Prov. xvi. 32. 

In his eighteenth year his father died, leaving a 
widow and six children : two sons and four daughters. 
The elder son having left home to seek his fortune on 
the frontiers of the far west, young Alfred determined 
to turn his talents to use, for the support of his mother 
and sisters. He secured a position as assistant teacher 
at an academy in the town of Princess Anne, Mary- 
land, where he taught for four years.^ His mother 
having decided to remove to Pocomoke City, it was 
there the gifted scholar had the inspiration to study 
for the ministry. He prepared himself with great care, 
and after considerable reading and study went to Ber- 
lin, Maryland, where he passed a very successful ex- 
amination before a convention of Episcopal ministers, 
who Immediately began to agitate the question as to the 
validity of his baptism. It was decided that the young 
Levite should be re-baptized before receiving orders. 
This was accordingly done, and the following copy of 
a license from his bishop, to perform church service in 
several parishes of the district in which he lived, shows 

* The house In which the Bishop boarded, while teaching at the Academy 
in Princess Anne, is in use at present. He spent Saturday and Sunday with 
his mother at Pocomoke City, returning to teach at Princess Anne during 
the week, and it was in his walks between these two towns, a distance of 
several miles, that he learned his Greek verbs. 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

in what esteem the young aspirant was held by his 
superiors. 

In the Name of God. Amen. 
I do hereby license Alfred Allen Curtis of the Parish 
of Pocomoke, Worcester County, of whose soundness 
in the faith, and godly, righteous and sober life, 1 am 
well assured, to perform the service of the Church in 
the Parishes of Pocomoke, and St. John, Worcester 
County and Somerset, Somerset County, agreeably to 
the provisions, and under the limitations of Canon the 
Eleventh of General Convention of 1832; he being 
subject in all things pertaining to such performance of 
public religious service, to the advice and direction of 
the Reverend the Rectors of said Parishes. In testi- 
mony whereof, I have hereunto set my episcopal seal 
and signature, this first day of October in the year of 
our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, 
and of my episcopate the sixteenth. 

William Rollinson Whittixgham, 
(Seal) Bishop of Maryland. 

The next year he was made a deacon and sent '' to 
preach the Gospel, and perform all other functions ap- 
pertaining to his oflice," — as the following lines show: 
" I hereby License the Reverend Alfred Allen Curtis 
by me ordained a Deacon, to Preach the Gospel, and 
perform all other functions appertaining to his office, 
in St. John's and Pocomoke Parishes, in Worcester 
County, as long as he shall continue a Deacon of the 
Diocese of Maryland, unless this License be previously 
withdrawn." 

*' In Testimony whereof, I have hereunto affixed my 
seal and signature, at Cambridge, this twenty-first day 
of September, In the year of our Lord one thousand 
eight hundred and fifty-six, and In the seventeenth year 
of my consecration." 

William Rollinson Whittingham, 
(Seal) Bishop of Maryland. 

6 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

If the veil of futurity could have been lifted, what 
an astounding revelation the ardent young deacon 
would have received. Laboring now under obedience 
to a bishop of the Anglican church, with that upright- 
ness and singleness of purpose which was ever to dis- 
tinguish him, he would have beheld himself after years 
of painful, anxious waiting, entering the true fold, con- 
stituted bishop and pastor of souls in this same vine- 
yard of the Lord. Could his thoughts have been re- 
vealed, doubtless, he himself would have marvelled at 
the providence of God, bringing him Into these same 
fields of his previous labors, to spend himself In seek- 
ing and finding the lost sheep of Israel, after the heroic 
example of so many missionary bishops of America. 
But all this was as yet the secret of God. 

In the year 1859 he received orders according to 
the ritual of the Protestant Episcopal church, and was 
immediately sent to Baltimore, to assist Doctor Rankin 
of St. Luke's Church, which was beginning to adopt 
ritualistic practices. From thence he was transferred 
to a small congregation In Frederick, Maryland, and 
thence to Chestertown, Kent County, Maryland. 

This happy return to his rural missions filled his 
soul with joy, and increased if possible those irresis- 
tible longings for solitude, which attracting him from 
his youth, now pursued him everywhere. It was his 
chief delight when not engaged with work, to walk 
alone, through trackless lands and unfrequented woods. 
This must have been God's way of revealing Himself 
to this pure soul, which learned the art of communing 
with God through His creatures; for he comprehended 
the language of all, and each In its way spoke to him 
of its Creator. 

He loved In after years to recall the scenes of his 
early life, and held In tender remembrance objects and 
places associated with his childhood and youth. He 
often spoke of the profusion of blackberries and 
cherries, of the peaches " large as saucers," produced 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

on the eastern shore of Maryland, and became quite 
aroused when his hearers doubted these wonderful 
stories. 

When making the visitation of his diocese as Bishop 
of Wilmington, he willingly went out of his way to 
visit these hallowed spots, and could be seen in the 
churchyard at Pocomoke City, kneeling respectfully 
at the graves of his mother and sisters. He was heard 
to say: '' If I have a special affection for any part of 
my diocese it is for the pines, the creeks, the marshes 
and even the mosquitoes of the eastern shore," where: 

" Each hazel copse, each greenly-tangled bower 
Is sacred to some well-remembered hour." 

It was during the three years w^hich preceded his en- 
trance into a wider field of action, that he began to 
lead a life of deeper study and reflection. He under- 
stood the claims God had upon his heart, and conceived 
a higher idea of sacrifice, such as the priesthood de- 
mands, for he was always at heart a priest. This 
caused him a little later to sever a cherished tie which 
he now began to look upon as an obstacle, to that per- 
fect consecration and dedication of his life to the salva- 
tion of souls. He w^as then only in his tw^enty-eighth 
year, in the vigor of life, and of a robust constitution, 
possessing a strength of mind and body above the com- 
mon, of which his brilliant florid complexion was the 
index. His clear, honest blue eye revealed a depth of 
religious sincerity, while a certain seriousness pervad- 
ing his whole exterior gave him an ascendency over 
others, and portrayed the self-discipline he had already 
acquired over the impetuosit}' of his strong irascible 
nature. He was above medium height, of a light build 
and graceful mien, with a modest droop of the head to 
one side, which all the efforts of a loving mother had 
not succeeded In correcting, while his amiable manner 
and winning smile gained all — even the unruly boys of 
his catechetical class. On one occasion, whether by 
8 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

thoughtlessness or wanton mischief, one of the boys sat 
upon his new silk beaver, which he had carefully 
placed in a corner of the first pew. When at the close 
of the lesson the young minister took up his hat to 
leave, the preceptor of the boys perceiving the mishap 
was covered with shame and confusion, and hastening 
towards his pastor, with profuse apologies, begged 
him to wait until another hat could be procured; 
whereupon with a smile, Mr. Curtis replied, "It is 
good enough for me," and thrusting his fist into the 
crushed crown, smoothed it out, and continued after- 
wards to wear the hat, as if nothing had happened. 

If as the Holy Scripture says, heaven is borne away 
by the violent only, is it not evident that this young 
Levite was already like the just man, preparing in his 
heart admirable ascensions of virtue, which were but 
the dawning of those heroic acts that characterized 
his after life? 



CHAPTER II 

1862 - 1872 

TT was In the year 1862 that the young minister was 
-*■ elected to the Rectorship of ^It. Calvary Epis- 
copal Church in Baltimore. Here a very devout and 
select congregation awaited him, — who, like another 
Baptist, would become to them a burning and a shining 
light, — burning by his zeal for the glory of God's 
House, and shining by the practice of the most admir- 
able virtues. His long retreat in the rural missions had 
prepared him for this contact with the world, and his 
whole bearing had the stamp of a man of prayer. 

For the next nine years he could be seen laboring 
indefatigably for the salvation of souls, and endearing 
himself to the white and colored congregations com- 
mitted to his care. He had a little study adjoining the 
vestibule of the church where he spent most of his time 
reading, studying and living a very ascetic life. He 
fasted whole days at a time, sleeping on the bare floor 
at night, and praying much. He took up a most scru- 
pulous and faithful study of the Bible, and to enable 
himself to make more thorough researches he went to 
a learned Jewish rabbi, living In Baltimore, with 
whom he studied Hebrew. This brought him In close 
contact with the Fathers of the Church, in whom he felt 
an Intense Interest, especially the old Greek Fathers — 
Orlgen, Saints Basil, Gregory Xazlanzen and Clement 
of Alexandria. Thus In a short time he became more 
and more Imbued with the truth, and while drinking 
refreshing draughts of Catholic doctrine at Its source, 
he found he believed everything our holy Mother the 
Church teaches. Now he must buy a Roman Breviary^, 
10 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

and although he had never heard of an Ordo, he 
learned how to say the Office from the instructions 
given in the beginning of this book, but, as these in- 
structions are for choirs, and not for individuals or for 
the Office in private, the young minister charged him- 
self with saying, not only the Office of the day, but like- 
wise that of the Dead, as well as the little Office of our 
Blessed Lady, which consumed some three or four 
hours daily. The Preparation and Thanksgiving for 
holy Mass, which he also found in the Breviary, struck 
him as so beautiful, that he made an English transla- 
tion which he learned by heart, and repeated every day, 
before and after what he called " his massy He also 
styled himself a priest, wearing a cassock and biretta. 
One day two gentlemen passing the church and seeing 
the door open, entered, and were accosted by the pious 
minister, who replying to their inquiries as to whether 
it was a Catholic church, and if he was a priest, an- 
swered boldly, '' Yes." At the same moment he was 
afflicted with such qualms of conscience, that he felt 
himself obliged to approach these gentlemen before 
they left the church, and to say to them, " I thought 
myself a priest, but I am not, and you will find the 
Catholic church three squares from here." This was 
the initial step towards his conversion, for could Al- 
mighty God ever allow such unselfish uprightness to 
go unrewarded? He was already inundating this soul 
of prayer with special graces, which would be needed 
for the coming conflict. Late one evening, it was Satur- 
day night, an elderly gentleman passing Mt. Cal- 
vary church, on his way home from St. Ignatius, " the 
church three squares away," attracted by the brilliant 
light, he felt some curiosity to know what could be 
going on in this pious meeting, at so late an hour. 
He was held spell-bound at the threshold of the door, 
on hearing a magnificent eulogy paid to the Mother of 
God, from the lips of a most eloquent preacher. " This 
man must be a Catholic," said Mr. Thompson to him- 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

self, and from that day until he heard of the entrance 
of Mr. Curtis into the Church, which was one year 
later, he never ceased praying for him, saying the 
rosary every day for his conversion. He ever re- 
tained the remembrance of that sermon, which had 
touched him so profoundly, and when Mr. Curtis was 
made a priest and stationed at the Cathedral, Mr. 
Thompson was among the first to become one of his 
most devoted clients and devout penitents. 

About this time, a prominent clergyman of the ad- 
vanced Ritualistic section of the Anglican church was 
visiting America, and Mr. Curtis invited him to offici- 
ate at Mt. Calvary. He followed so closely the 
Catholic ceremonial, and imitated so well the move- 
ments of a priest at the altar, that he was really taken 
for a Roman in disguise, by the misguided witnesses 
of his actions. 

All kinds of rumors were now being circulated, and 
some of the more fervent members of the congrega- 
tion, becoming alarmed, reported to their Bishop that 
Mr. Curtis had introduced a ^^ Roman priest ^^ in dis- 
guise, who celebrated " Mass hi English^ Mr. 
Curtis was summoned by the Bishop, who, slow to be- 
lieve the reports, wished to question the pastor him- 
self. Naturally enough, this attack on his veracity 
aroused a just feeling of indignation in the breast of 
the accused, who stoutly denied the charge, and strongly 
resented the accusation, saying, " I do not He, nor have 
I ever lied In my life,'* hastily left the Bishop alone, 
sorely puzzled In his cogitations. 

An inspiriting correspondence now took place be- 
tween Bishop Whittlngham and the Rector of Mt. 
Calvary church, which gives an Insight to what was 
transpiring, and shows how each In his turn was striv- 
ing to maintain what he considered the truth, — the 
Bishop conscientiously protecting his flock from what 
he looked upon as *' the ravening wolf," while his 
Presbyter, drawn by the whisperings of the Holy Spirit, 

12 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

Who is truth Itself and cannot deceive, felt he could no 
longer resist their attractions^ 

In this same year a Pastoral regarding the Holy 
Eucharist was issued by Bishop Whittingham; and 
this was to bring to a culminating point the fears, per- 
plexities and doubts, which beset the mind of the young 
minister, leading him at last, after further toils and 
struggles, to the center of Catholic Unity and Truth, 
which with so much steadfastness of purpose he had 
been seeking from his youth. Jesus in the Blessed 
Sacrament was his teacher and guide, and he, respond- 
ing to the call, preached and defended Him, even be- 
fore he knew the full value of this priceless treasure. 
It has been admitted by those who knew him most 
intimately, that his devotion of predilection was to the 
Blessed Sacrament, and in his daily walks he was seen 
stealthily visiting a Catholic church, in the suburbs of 
the city. There concealing himself behind one of the 
great pillars of the church, he poured forth his soul, 
in loving adoration and prayer. 

The following letter will convey in part his earnest- 
ness in pursuing the cause he had so nobly and de- 
voutly espoused. 

Wednesday, November 8, 187 1. 

To THE Rt. Rev. Wm. Rollinson Whittingham, 
DD., LL.D., Bishop of Maryland. 

My dear Bishop: 

I am very reluctantly but unavoidably about to give 
you pain. I have at last determined to resign my Rec- 
torship at once, and to vacate it at the end of the year. 
Strict consistency demands no doubt that I should Im- 
mediately close my mouth, but I desire to finish the 
ninth year of my Rectorship, and I desire also to give 
the vestry some time In which to procure another Rec- 
tor. In the time beween this and the yearns end, I will 
study not to contradict the Pastoral. And I will take 

13 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

it for granted that you will not oppose my teaching 
under this proviso, during that short time. For a little 
while I can be silent, but the statements of Pastoral 
as to the Holy Eucharist I dare not even tr)' to accept. 
1 could turn back and become In body and soul twenty 
years younger, as soon as I could cease to believe, 
that my Master Is In the Eucharist, and presented to me 
under the form of Bread and Wine, that I may adore, 
as well as eat and drink Him. If it is not the truth 
that the very Human and divine Christ Is Himself 
first offered, for the living and the dead in the Holy 
Eucharist, and there put according to His whole Liv- 
ing Person Into my very hands, to be then and there 
adored and endowed with all I am, and all I possess 
perpetually — there is no truth for me, at least no 
truth I greatly care to know. And as I dare not and 
will not try to accommodate myself to the Pastoral, 
so I dare not undertake to go on teaching, under that 
to which I am down to the root of myself, so Intensely 
and irreversibly opposed. I could not teach without 
contradicting intentionally or unintentionally, what 
the Bishops have propounded. For as my own inner 
life, so all my teaching grows out of, and depends upon 
the fact, that the Lord is actually one with and pres- 
ent in the Eucharist, under the form of Bread and 
Wine as He w^as of old present in the stable, one with 
and under the form of Babyhood. I have no choice 
then, if I would remain honest but to resign work, 
which I can no longer discharge according to the mind 
of my Superiors. I am then resigning my work only, 
not my orders as you will understand. I feel pro- 
foundly that in my present state I am totally unfit to 
have the care of souls. Nothing remains but to ask 
you if it seems right to you, to keep my resignation 
to yourself. I wish to create as little talk as possible. 
One more thing does remain, namely, to thank you 
with all my heart for the truly fatherly forbearance 
and affection which you have ever shown towards me. 

14 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

I shall never forget them, nor ever cease In return, 
to pray for you and yours. I need not ask you to 
pray for me, for I know you will do it unasked. 
Yery faithfully and affectionately 

Yr. son in Ct. 

A. A. Curtis. 

This beautiful letter drew forth the following reply 
from Bishop Whittingham, which has only to be read 
to prove that he was, or at least seemed to be, in good 
faith. 

Madison Avenue, November 13, 1871. 
My DEAR Curtis: 

You rightly judged of your letter of Wednesday 
last, that it would give me pain. I think I have never 
received one that gave me more occasion for intense 
anxiety and regret. Receiving it, as I did, late in the 
evening before a day necessarily to be entirely given 
to duties for which I was under previous engagement, 
while in an ill condition of health, I found in the open- 
ing sentences ample reason for laying It aside, to be 
read entirely only when better prepared for its unwel- 
come contents. And when, on Friday, I found myself 
at leisure to give it my whole attention, the communi- 
cation proved to be even less endurable than had been 
known by the opening announcement. It was bad 
enough that you should be led to think of resigning 
work in which there seemed to be so many reasons 
why you should find content and satisfaction; but it 
sadly aggravated the distressing nature of the tidings 
to be informed that the resignation had been resolved 
on in a spirit so different from any which I had ever 
known you to manifest before, and for an array of 
reasons which seemed to me, on your own presentation, 
so miserably insufficient. You represent your deter- 
mination as taken because you are profoundly certain 
that you are totally unfit to retain the care of souls. 

15 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

But of such total untitness you neither give nor in any- 
way intimate any other ground of proof, than your 
inabiht)' any longer to discharge your work, according 
to the mind of your Superiors. 

And of that inability the whole evidence consists in 
the asserted impossibilit)', that you would continue to 
teach without contradicting intentionally or uninten- 
tionally what the Bishops have propounded in their 
Pastoral Letter, on a single point of doctrine concern- 
ing the Holy Eucharist. 

Surely, never did a Christian priest contemplate the 
abandonment of the Exercise of his high office with 
less apparent cogency of reason! Had the Pastoral 
taught a doctrine of the Eucharist contrary to that 
which you state to be the ground of your own inner 
life and of all your teaching, it would indeed have be- 
come incumbent on you to do one of two things — 
Either, cease your work, or enter on a serious and 
thorough re-examination of your own views, to see if 
it might not be possible, that one Presb}-ter was in 
error, and nearly lift}- of his Superiors right. 

All that I have ever known of you would have led 
me to expect of you the adoption of the last alternative. 
But there is no such procedure until contrariety- of doc- 
trine do require it. Who has faulted the doctrine of 
the Real Presence even stated as you stated it, in the 
fullest strength of language which it is possible to use, 
without running into unscriptural, uncatholic and ra- 
tionalistic presumption in definition? 

Your objection is to a condemnation of a practical 
inference from that doctrine. You choose'to infer from 
it that your Master presents Himself in His Blessed 
Sacrament to you under the Form of Bread and Wine 
to be adored; and having made that inference you 
speak of being intensely opposed, down to the ver^^ root 
of your nature to the authoritative document which 
takes a different view — not of doctrine, but of result- 
ing privilege and duty. You declare that you do not 
i6 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

even try to receive its statements ! But you do not and 
will not try to accommodate yourself to it! My dear 
Brother: I know you do not so mean it; but let me tell 
you plainly, this is the very way of talking of a heretic ! 
It is now my turn to challenge you to give a word of 
proof that you have the Master's warrant for your 
inference. 

I know the subterfuges by which over-eager devo- 
tion has tried to build up for itself a right without 
that warrant; and the far more objectionable boldness, 
bordering on profanity, by which human logic works 
the claim out of premises gotten by its own inventions 
on the mode of statement; but what I demand of you 
is our Lord's authority for inferring from His gift of 
Himself to you, that He makes it to be adored in it, 
and holding that inference against fifty of those whom 
He has set over you in His name, with such temerity 
or rather to offend His little ones by throwing up His 
commission to work among them for His sake, than 
give up your own individual convictions and cease 
your own individual innovations, in the public doctrine 
and worship of the church in which you are a minister. 
Dear Curtis: your letter talks about not daring to 
undertake or try to do certain things; let me tell you 
that it is far, very far worse daring to resolve on such 
a course without incomparably more reason than I 
have as yet any ground for thinking that you can 
show. 

Your deeply grieved, but most truly loving friend 
and brother, 

W. R. Whittingham. 
Rev. a. a. Curtis. 

This called for another letter on the part of the ar- 
dent Presbyter, which shows how deeply his grateful 
and affectionate heart was wounded by the thought of 
inflicting pain upon him whom he revered as his Supe- 
rior, and whom he loved as the best of friends. But 

17 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

with that candor so characteristic of him," and true to 
the light which he had received, he gives without hesi- 
tation " a reason for the [faith] that is in him." i St. 
Peter iii. 15. 



Tuesday afternoon, November 14, 1871. 

To THE Rt. Rev. Wm. R. Whittingham, D.D., 
Bishop of Maryland. 

My DEAR Bishop: 

I am deeply grateful to you for the affectionateness 
and gentleness with which your letter overflows. That 
letter is of a piece w^ith all your conduct towards me. 
Indeed It pains me to pain you, and the more when I 
see you even under the pain dealing so leniently with 
me. I have not yet had time to weigh as I propose to 
weigh what you have said. I shall do so however 
with a desire to find in what you concede a door of es- 
cape from my present position. I must confess your 
interpretation of the Pastoral was a great surprise to 
me. Indeed it more than surprised, it bewildered me. 
I read and I must confess still read the Pastoral as 
condemning not only eucharistical adoration, but such 
a Presence of the Master in the Sacrament as " allows " 
such adoration. This point, however, I do not pre- 
sume to debate with you. You must know better than 
I how to interpret your own words. And it was the 
suppressing both adoration and the Presence, which 
justifies adoration to be censured and disallowed, which 
disturbed me so very much, and threw me into a state 
which rendered me, as I said, totally unfit to retain 
the care of souls in this communion. It never for a 
moment came to me that the Bishops could mean to 
tolerate such a Presence as I held, and as I have stated 
to you while condemning to me, its entirely Inevitable 
consequent, or rather accompaniment. I cannot at all 
see how Christ can be received as Christ without ado- 
ration. To say that He is present but is not to be 
18 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

adored Is to me only a certain way of saying that He 
Is not veritably present at all. To say that I receive 
Him Into my hands without the most prostrate ado- 
ration, Is to my mind just the same as to say that I re- 
ceive something which Is called Christ, but In fact Is 
not Christ. It was the condemnation as It seemed 
to me, not only of adoration but of any such Presence 
as suggests adoration which distressed me so much, 
and caused me to determine to hold my peace for the 
future. If I can see what you wish me to see as to the 
import of the Pastoral I will, but I cannot now promise 
to see that It will be honest to teach such a Presence as 
calls for adoration, while at the same time agreeing 
to seem to disbelieve In the propriety of adoration. 
A word more. Of course I can produce no explicit 
command of the Master calling upon to adore His 
Eucharlstical Presence, nor can I find In Holy Writ any 
precise dogmatical statement of any use of the Articles 
of our Faith. My whole faith as formalized into 
dogmas Is simply what the Church under the guidance 
of the Spirit of Truth has deduced from the statements 
of Holy Writ. The first of all truths, that God Is a 
simple. Indivisible essence entirely present In every 
point of space, Is a deduction. The Homoousion Is a 
deduction. And the Arians fought against it as merely 
a deduction. And eucharlstical adoration Is so much 
to me because It is to me a deduction, which the Church 
has made from the words " This is My Body, This is 
My Blood." In favor of a deduction of my own, I 
would not presume to set myself against even one 
Bishop, and still less against fifty, and one of them 
yourself. But because the Bishops to me seem to dis- 
allow a deduction which the Church has pronounced 
Inevitable, therefore it Is that I presume to differ from 
them. Certainly all my reading of antiquity as well 
as my understanding of the Church's loving will is to 
the effect that adoration Is, and ever has been ren- 
dered to the Lord's Eucharlstical Presence. It is 

19 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

then as submitting to the Church, and not as presum- 
ing upon my own individual logic. Thank you again 
and again for all your kindness. 

Very faithfully and affectionately. 

Your son in Christ, 

A. A. Curtis. 

The answer of the Bishop to the earnest, pathetic ap- 
peal of his doubting and enquiring disciple is severe in 
its tenor, and while striving to asseverate his argu- 
ments, he seems to lose in the contest by the weakness 
of his reasonings. 



M.\DisoN- Avenue, Wednesday, November 15, 1871. 
Mv DEAR Curtis: 

Your last note gives me a new perplexity-. Your 
kind estimate of what you lovingly accept as the '' gen- 
tleness " of my letter answering your announcement 
of intention to resign, seems to have occasioned a mis- 
construction of the purport of that letter. 

You seem to have construed it into an acceptance of 
your views, in so far as they differ from those set forth 
in the Pastoral Letter, and an Endeavor to make you 
see something in the Letter which may enable you, 
retaining and inculcating those views, to continue the 
Exercise of the Ministry'. 

What I meant to do, was, first, to remonstrate 
against an act on grounds which, by your own showing, 
did not require it: and, secondly, to urge that you had 
no sufficient grounds for the unfounded inferential doc- 
trine and practice which you maintain as against the 
teaching of the Pastoral. 

I must say frankly that your present position Is much 
less to my mind than before. You seem to me coolly 
to assume infallibilit}* and absolute Independence In 
the Exercise of your Pastoral functions, and to claim 
for your own Individual, ministerial actions the func- 
20 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

tlons of a General Council, in asserting doctrinal In- 
ferences and llturgic usages. If on deliberation you 
shall find the teaching of the Episcopate of the Catho- 
lic church in which you minister, capable of accommo- 
dation to your decisions on points of inferential doc- 
trine and ritual, you will accept it — if not — not. Is 
that the proper relation of a Presbyter to the Church 
In which he ministers? 

While showing you that the Pastoral Letter did 
not do what your first letter assumed that it had done, 
I had no intention to be understood to accept all the 
particulars of your statement of your own (Inferential) 
doctrine of the Presence. Most certainly I do not 
admit that you are right in holding the belief of a 
Presence, capable of being put Into the hands or de- 
signed to be adored in the visible Elements; still less, 
that you have any right, as a Presbyter of this church, 
to teach such belief or publicly to practise or to incul- 
cate any ritual based on its assumption. I have long 
known, with intense grief of heart, that you were fol- 
lowing a course of teaching which, In my judgment, dis- 
torted and perverted the Gospel of Salvation by as- 
signing undue prominence to one of its fundamental 
portions, to the dwindling, if not exclusion, of the rest. 

The spinal column is the noblest part of the human 
trunk; but its undue development produces a hunch- 
back cripple. So the undue development of Eucharlstic 
doctrine may utterly deform and cripple a pastoral 
system of doctrine otherwise worthy of all praise. 

Testimony of every kind represents to me the exis- 
tence of such an undue " dividing of the word " in your 
course of teaching, by sermon and catechism. In the 
past two years. I should be unfaithful both to you 
and to the people who, although your people, are also 
my people. If I allowed the occasion afforded me by 
this correspondence to pass without warning you 
against what seems to me so great an error. 

It was to be expected that the pursuance of such a 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

course of partial teaching would expose the teacher 
to the danger of error in the exaggeration of unduly 
favored doctrine, and over-curious discussion, perhaps 
presumptuous definition, on points of faith purposely 
made mysterious, and so kept by the Church Catholic 
in all her normal teachings and ritual. 

I cannot but perceive such exaggeration and rash- 
ness of definition in both your letters, in relation to the 
Presence of our Lord in the Sacrament of the com- 
munication of His most precious Body and Blood. 

Your tone, in regard to the matter, is not what my 
past knowledge of your nature and experience of your 
conduct would have led me to expect from you under 
the circumstances. It is, for you, unnatural and harsh. 
It is clear to me that one-sided devotion and study have 
produced an unhealthy tone and temper in your mind, 
in relation to this particular department of your 
ministry. 

Your congregation, It Is my full persuasion, would 
be better taught and profited, and you yourself a more 
able and effective minister of the Gospel of Christ, 
if you would be silent on the subject of the Sacrament 
of the Eucharist, both In catechising and In preaching 
for half or even a whole year. Look at the proportion 
given to Eucharistic doctrine In the apostolic teaching. 
Would St. Paul or St. John have taught the Gospel 
as you have been teaching It the last two years at 
Mt. Calvar)^? 

I know, of course, what you have to say about preva- 
lent false doctrine, irreverence, and so on. But I know, 
too, that there Is a bounden duty to study rightly to 
divide i bpOorofieiv) the word of truth; and that duty 
cannot be fulfilled by a Pastor who spends most of 
his time In harping upon the one string of one side 
of the doctrine of one Sacrament. 

My dear Curtis, I write ver\' plainly and freely to 
you because I know your love for me and you know 
mine for you, and the time Is not far off from either 

22 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

of us (certainly not for me) when a plain word spoken 
in love will be known as more precious than a lifetime 
of unmeaning compliment or deceptious reticence. I 
speak to you as a son in Christ. Weigh well a father's 
warning. 

You are in a dangerous path. This Pastoral Letter 
furnishes an occasion for pause and consideration. 
Listen to the voice of the Pastorate in It, and lay aside 
the unwise reliance on private judgment which is be- 
traying you into making a pope of A. A. Curtis, and 
be content to be advised and guided by those on whom 
the Lord has laid the responsibility of government in 
His Church, and believe that your Master may be 
served as faithfully and as effectually In other ways, 
as in a will worship (ideXoOprja/ceia) of your own pri- 
vate Inference, from the Church's inference, from His 
gracious Word of Promise, given to be accepted and 
obeyed, and not honoured by being made the mere 
hook on which to hang man's inventions of what he 
deems proper uses of a Great Gift offered, with no 
suggestion of such Employment. 

Ever — in whatever perplexity and grief of heart, 
still none the less — 

Your true loving friend and faithful brother, 

W. R. Whittingham. 
Rev. a. a. Curtis. 

Things seemed now to have reached a climax, for 
after much questioning on the part of the church au- 
thorities, and great discussion among the congregation 
as to how matters would be settled, Mr. Curtis, after 
tendering his resignation, publicly announced his In- 
tention of going abroad, at the same time promising 
his people he would take no step towards Rome until 
he had consulted the authorities of the Anglican church. 
The following edifying letter from the vestrymen of 
Mt. Calvary Church, accepting most reluctantly the 
resignation of their pastor, proves their esteem for 

23 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

him, as well as the devoted attachment of the congre- 
gation he had served so faithfully. 



Baltimore, December 30, 1871. 

Vestry-room of Mt. Calvary Church. 

Rev. a. a. Curtis, 

Rev. and dear Sir: 
In consideration of the motives which have prompted 
you to tender to us your resignation of the Rectorship 
of Mt. Calvary Church, we, your vestry, feel con- 
strained to accept it. 

We do so with reluctance and heartfelt pain, but 
not without the hope that in God's good providence 
the reasons which in your judgment have rendered this 
step necessary may be so far removed that you may 
be restored to the flock which so thoroughly trusts and 
deeply loves you. 

We cannot express to you in w^ords our sense of 
your self-sacrificing zeal and loving care, but on be- 
half of this congregation and for ourselves we would 
renew to you the assurance of our devoted attachment, 
and of our recognition of your perfect faithfulness in 
the discharge of every pastoral duty, during all the 
years of your ministry among us. 

We will pray that God may always abundantly bless 
you, and have you evermore in His most holy keeping. 
Your faithful friends and servants in the church. 
Bernard Carter, 
Geo. G. Carey, 
S. C. Chew, 
Wm. D. Martin, 
M. J. De Rosset, 
Same. B. Fleming, 
James McAnderson, 

Festry. 



24 



CHAPTER III 

1872 

TT was early in the month of March of 1872 that 
-■- Mr. Curtis took passage on a steamer bound for 
Liverpool; but before leaving America he again ad- 
dressed himself to Bishop Whittingham, giving him a 
very explicit and detailed account of his reasons for 
resigning his pastoral charge. He had retired to a 
small country town, to calm his mind amid the tempest 
of fears, anxieties and doubts which assailed him. His 
soul was oppressed with sorrow, and his heart was a 
prey to the most poignant grief at the thought of sepa- 
rating from his beloved people; nevertheless, he rec- 
ognized " the Will of God in this unfortunate affair," 
as he afterwards said. Although weighed down by se- 
vere indisposition of body, with a superhuman energy 
he wrote in his strong, vigorous style the following 
letter, which for its clearness, integrity and perspicuity 
may be compared to a veritable masterpiece of wisdom 
and logic. 

Newtown, February 14, 1872. 
To THE Rt. Rev. Wm. R. Whittingham, D.D., 
Bishop of Maryland. 

Rt. Rev. Father: 

Indisposition and changes of place have combined to 
retard my answer to your last letter. In that letter 
there Is one thing only of which I propose to take 
notice, namely, your complaint that I have of late 
avoided you and have given you no opportunity of 

25 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

saying what you have to say against the step I am 
meditating.^ 

This complaint is from your standpoint entirely just. 
I go further and acknowledge that even to myself it 
seems as if it might have been in some respects better 
had I at least made the attempt to confer with you 
freely, as to the things which I have been for years re- 
volving without reaching (until a little while ago) any 
conclusion. Why is it then that I have studiously kept 
away from you and debarred you from all opportunity 
of giving me a single word of counsel? I will tell you. 
Let me remind you then that my avoidance of you is 
no new thing. It has been growing for years. For 
years you have known from myself nothing at all of 
that with which my mind has been most filled. 

I began with thinking you the very embodiment of 
everything Catholic. Then I consulted you as to every- 
thing. I deferred to you as to everything. I not only 
did not venture to do, but I did not even venture to 
believe anything by you disallowed. But as time went 
on I was constrained to assent to things known to be 
extremely repugnant to you. One of those things was 
the goodness of the Roman Communion and the un- 
reasonableness and wickedness of the hostility with 
which that Communion is by almost all Anglicans re- 
garded. We claiming to be merely one of the coordi- 
nate branches of the Church I saw that we had no 
right to denounce, condemn, hate and vilify a body In 
antiquity at least equalling, and in size far transcending 
our own Communion. I acted upon what I saw, and 
being sure that the sin of sins In the Anglican Com- 
munion Is hatred of and Injustice towards the Roman 
obedience, I ever spoke both in public and private in 
behalf of that obedience. It seemed to me right to 



* In a letter dated February 5, Bishop Whittingham had reproached 
him for not having opened his mind to him "on the subject of his doubts 
and perplexities, and thereby given him an opportunity of offering counsel 
or instruction on the step he meditated." 

26 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

make a great deal of one of our faults, and as little as 
possible of the faults of our brethren. And when I 
had learned to recognize practically the coordinacy 
with us in the Church of the Roman Communion, I 
began to draw apart from you and to close my mind 
to you, because (you must excuse me for saying it) I 
know few who dislike Rome as intensely as you dislike 
her, and I know none less capable of doing her jus- 
tice. I could not agree with you, because I stood too 
much in awe of you, and because too I knew you to 
be totally impervious to anything whatever meant to 
make you think more favorably of Romanism. 
Neither could I play the hypocrite and leave you to 
infer from my silence that I had accepted, when in 
fact I had totally repudiated, the dire things which 
upon the very slightest provocation I knew you to be 
ever ready to utter against Rome. 

Nothing remained, therefore, but to keep my 
thoughts to myself, since any propounding of them to 
you would either have produced strife or else would 
have rendered me liable to the charge of hypocrisy. 
A single fact will sufficiently illustrate what I am say- 
ing. I went then into your study some time ago for a 
specific purpose, meaning to come out the moment my 
business had been transacted. My errand had been 
discharged and I was coming away when with great 
glee you stopped me and took me aside to show me — 
what? A wretched picture, wherein his Holiness Pius 
the IX was seated, blowing soap bubbles; Cardinal An- 
tonelli standing at his side and holding the vessels 
whence the bubbles were blown. The bubbles were 
each labelled ^^ Major Excommimkat'wn! ''^ I looked 
with sickness of soul at this fearful caricature, and yet 
such was my awe of you that T even smiled, asked ques- 
tions, and without doubt, on the whole, so behaved as 
to leave on your mind the impression that the Pope's 
" Excommunication " was almost as much of a joke to 
me as to you. 

27 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

1 went out fiercely angry with myself and profoundly 
disgusted with you, and with the whole system of which 
you are a fair exponent. Had I been brave enough I 
should that very evening have renounced you and An- 
glicanism. A Bishop shaking his sides with laughter, 
when by the profane of the profane, the Primate of 
all Christendom is caricatured. A Bishop making very 
merry when seeing an Excommunication, at least as 
\'alid as his own, compared to a soap bubble. Such a 
man, I said, cannot be a Bishop save in name. I ought 
to renounce him, denounce him and look elsewhere for 
Bishops who are Bishops indeed. 

For days I despised myself for my cowardice in not 
telling you what I thought of the picture, and of you 
for regarding the picture as a good joke. And yet I 
knew that had I spoken plainly the result would have 
been a quarrel, and a separation once for all. 

Is it wonderful then that I avoided you when at 
each interview I incurred the danger of falling into 
hypocrisy, or of provoking a collision which, on my 
part certainly and on yours probably, would have been 
a wrathful and disastrous one? For I knew perfectly 
If I once began to speak I should warm in speaking, 
and should not stop short of such an outpouring as 
would drive you to extremes. For the reasons given 
then I for years avoided you more and more. At last 
came the late most miserable convention. It gave me 
my death blow. It made me once for all see that I 
could no longer go on balancing myself between the 
Roman and Anglican Communions, but that I must 
choose the one and disallow the other. For years I 
honestly tried to believe In both, and to render alle- 
giance to both. But when the Pastoral came under my 
eyes, I felt in my soul, though I did not at once clearly 
acknowledge to myself, that I must set my house In 
order and die to the Anglican Communion. 

I did not consult you for the reasons already given, 
and for the further reason that I saw clearly you could 

28 



Rt. Rev. A, A. Curtis, D.D. 

not In the least help me — no matter how freely and 
fully I might bring myself to confer with you. For 
we not only differ radically as to what the truth is, but 
as to how the truth is to be ascertained. You appeal 
to the Bible. But I care no whit more for what you 
find in the Bible than for what you find in the Koran 
or in a newspaper; for though I am certain of the in- 
fallibility in itself of Holy Writ, yet I deny utterly that 
it was ever meant to be used by one individual to prove 
anything to another individual. Had we met then I 
should have insisted as a preliminary to discussion that 
the Bible should not be even once named. Again you 
would have appealed to the Primitive church. And 
to this appeal I should have declined to submit. I 
should have asked you to name the precise point where 
the line is to be drawn between the Church primitive 
and pure, and the Church older and corrupt. W-ien 
you had named this point I should have asked by what 
authority the same point had been given the prefer- 
ence over other points. Again I should have said, 
granting your line is properly drawn, yet how we are 
to study fully and exactly the period which we have 
agreed to consider pure. We have but the merest 
fragments of the devotions, the discipline and the 
teaching of early times. Much has perished. Much 
was never written at all. How know we then that the 
fragments in our hands are a sufficient clue to the mind 
of the Primitive church? Further, how know we that 
we are at all likely to put a right interpretation upon 
these same fragments? Lastly, granting that we can 
with certainty ascertain the mind of the Primitive 
church, yet what particular concern have we of the 
nineteenth century with the Primitive church? 

The Primitive church was for primitive people. In 
her own day when she needed to be understood she 
was understood. She was never intended to teach us, 
and therefore does not speak fully to us. The Church 
of the 19th century must teach the people of that 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

century. And if there has been a Church at all there 
is a Church now, just as plain and as infallible in its 
teaching as was the Church even under the twelve 
themselves. And if the Church of the 19th century is 
so corrupt as to be unworthy of credence, neither is 
there any good reason for believing the Primitive 
church. For if the Primitive church taught the 
truth, it did so by virtue of the indwelling therein of 
God the Holy Ghost, and if that indwelling ever was 
a fact, it is a fact still and so will remain till the end 
of time. Thus then I would have disposed of your 
appeal to the Primitive church. I do not think you 
would have appealed to the reformers, and therefore 
it is not necessary to say that no reformer has any 
weight whatever with me. But you would perhaps 
have attempted to prove it impossible that the Roman 
Communion can be what it claims to be. I should have 
told you you were wasting your labor. So in proving 
Rome antichristian, you were to me proving that there 
is not and never has been any such thing as a Catholic 
Church, and that Christianity in consequence is simply 
a mockery, a delusion and a snare. For if so much of 
Christendom as is contained in the Roman Communion 
has become apostate in spite of Apostolical descent, in 
spite of the Sacred Scriptures, in spite of the Sacra- 
ments, in spite of the indwelling of God the Holy Ghost, 
none of which things are denied by any one to the Ro- 
man obedience; then how can it be shown that the much 
smaller part of Christendom which Anglicanism con- 
stitutes has not also become apostate. No promises 
were made peculiarly to us, we have no choicer Scrip- 
tures, no better Sacraments, no more ancient descent, 
and no fuller indwelling of the Spirit. If in the case 
of Rome then all safeguards have been unavailing, 
what proof is there save our own bare assertion that 
the same safeguards are as respects us thoroughly 
effective? So then all attacks upon Rome would have 
been worse than useless. They might have driven me 

30 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

a Step nearer Infidelity, but they would have made me 
think no whit better of the Anglican Communion. For 
I see once for all that no authority can be claimed for 
Anglicanism which cannot with more reason be claimed 
for Rome. And hence to discredit Rome Is with me 
nothing less than to discredit every form of Christian- 
ity. I hope that I have shown you how futile would 
have been conference on my part with you. 

I have written hastily and while still very unwell, 
therefore no doubt obscurely and disjointedly. Never- 
theless I hope you see that my case Is now past any 
cure you could apply. I am tired to death of uncer- 
tainty. I am sick of self will. I am weary of standing 
alone. I am disgusted past bearing with that thing 
in the Anglican Communion which calls Itself Cathol- 
icism. I must find a living, speaking Infallible author- 
ity to which to submit, or else I must disregard Chris- 
tianity as a miserable sham. In Anglicanism I find no 
one note of the Church. It is not one, for it has almost 
as many teachings as teachers. It Is not holy, for su- 
pernatural holiness It stigmatizes as superstition and 
idolatry. Monks, virgins, hermits it scoffs at, — 
scourges, hair-cloth, celibacy, vows, confessions, pen- 
ances, vigils before the Sacrament, and almost all other 
means to preeminent holiness it disallows In no meas- 
ured terms. I cannot see that the holiness it recom- 
mends goes very much beyond such a holiness as Cicero 
might have practised. 

Nor is Anglicanism Catholic, It Is confined to men 
of one Church, and It will have nothing to do with the 
rest of Christendom. It hates the Roman obedience 
and sends Its emissaries wherever It can to stir up 
strife in that obedience, as we have missionaries for- 
sooth in Mexico, In the West Indies, in South America, 
In France and even in Italy; and as you yourself have 
been deputed to encourage and further these miserable 
Germans who rebel against the Church while attribut- 
ing infallibility to certain professors. Even the Greeks 

31 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

we have undertaken to evangelize, and for years have 
had In Athens an Ignorant old man and a staff of 
women who — bless the work — have been expected 
to make known among the Greeks that pure Gospel 
for which we have the monopoly. 

Lastly, Anglicanism Is not .apostolic. In England, 
Parliament Is supreme and churchmen literally wor- 
ship God according to Parliament. Laymen say what 
is and what is not the Church's doctrine, and now ac- 
quit and now condemn Priests. And In this country, 
too, not the Bishops but the laity rule. What the 
laity want they always get and what they don't want 
is never forced upon them. They sit in all ecclesias- 
tical bodies as coordinate with the Bishops themselves. 
And in almost all diocesan committees the Bishops are 
ruled out altogether, and are not even allowed to be 
coordinate with the laity. 

But It Is useless, I am sure, to prosecute further this 
Indictment against Anglicanism. To you it is all pro- 
fane bubble I know. To me it is simple truth, and 
until I can be made to see a oneness where there is in- 
finite diversity and endless strife, a holiness where al- 
most all that personates eminent holiness is disallowed, 
a Catholicity where the rights of all other communions 
are with intolerable arrogance continually Ignored or 
denied, and an Apostollclty where the Bishops dare 
not undertake to suppress any one of the heresies which 
have for centuries rited at their own will — in a word, 
until I can be made to see what now I cannot see, 
namely, that Anglicanism has the notes of the Church, 
I must retain my purpose of looking elsewhere for that 
Church. It was my purpose to have sent you with this 
my renunciation, but as pleasing others, I have deter- 
mined to go abroad for awhile and make there my sub- 
mission to the Chair of St. Peter, if, after consulting 
WMth some whom I have promised to consult, my mind 
Is still to the effect that Anglicanism is spurious and 
that the Roman obedience is alone entitled to my alle- 

32 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

glance. I have thought that the making my submission 
abroad might spare you as well as my other friends. 
If consultation abroad in no way alters my mind, I 
will, ere I seek a Roman instructor, send you my renun- 
ciation, so that you will be able to act upon it ere I 
have been actually received into the Roman Com- 
munion. But if my purpose of reserving my renunci- 
ation does not meet with your approbation, please say 
as much, and I will make renunciation before I leave 
the country. 

Finally, in spite of all I have said, I do love and ven- 
erate you. If I had not held you to be the very best 
of the whole Anglican Episcopate I should not per- 
haps so soon have arrived at the position I to-day fill. 
I do thank you for years of kindness and for very much 
which you have taught me. I shall never think or say 
other than good of you, and shall never cease to pray 
that the gulf between us may be abolished. In future 
years even more than now, I shall, I am sure, look back 
to you as the one who first started me in the road to 
Catholicism. I will even hope that hereafter at least 
we shall understand one another better than we have 
been able to do on earth. 

Very faithfully and affectionately Yrs, 

A. A. Curtis. 

Bishop Whittingham's Answer. 

Madison Avenue, February 20, 1872. 

My poor Brother : 

I have read, patiently, every word of your long let- 
ter. Most distressing is the conviction it forces upon 
me that for years I have been simply trusting a man 
who was abusing my confidence, for the maintenance 
of relations which he knew himself to be wronging. 

With such an one I can enter into no discussion. We 
have no common ground. Every sentence of your U)ng 

33 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

tirade against your spiritual Mother reveals a heart 
sick unto death with self-opinionated pride. It is 
God's just judgment upon one who has given himself 
over to the indulgence of that primal sin, that he should 
fall into the tempter's hands, in strong delusion to 
believe a lie. 

How else could you rely on the infaHibility of your 
own decision In favor of the unscrlptural, uncatholic, 
unprlmitlve, uncanonical claims of the arch-schismatic 
who blasphemously usurps divine vicegerency in the 
Roman See, and Imagine that you were thereby getting 
relief from distractions of your own creating, in the 
comfortable committal of your Intellect and conscience 
to the disposition of a human infallible authority. 

The teaching God sent you, you have had and 
abused. On your own responsibility you are claiming 
to make for yourself an Infallibility not meant for man 
— not promised to him — not given him. Nothing can 
come of it but ruin. Beginning in indocile presumption 
such a course must end in debasing substitution of the 
human for divine, the outward for the spiritual, the 
servitude of a creature of flesh for the liberty of a 
child of God. 

Your expressions of personal regard add poignancy 
to my sense of the wrong you have been doing me by 
your long concealments, and do but embitter the afflic- 
tion I undergo in the witness of your spiritual suicide. 

I can neither accept nor refuse your offer of a delay 
of your renunciation of your Holy Ministry. I could 
accept it if I could trust you, and would gladly cling 
to the hope that in His Merciful Providence God 
might yet bring you, through reflection and intercourse 
with men able to convince you of the shallowness and 
insufl'iciency of your past, imperfect studies, to a better 
mind and clearer and truer views. But how can I trust 
you for the future, after your revelation of the past? 

Yet I cannot refuse what opens to me the only dis- 
cernible door of hope for your deliverance from a most 

34 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

miserable false step. May our Lord Jesus Christ, 
Whose service and work you have been so sadly mis- 
taking and misperforming, of His Infinite Mercy Inter- 
pose to open your eyes before It be too late. 

Your sorrowing but still loving friend, 

W. R. Whittingham. 
Rev. a. a. Curtis. 

This answer to Mr. Curtis' magnificent tribute to 
Truth brought to a close the series of sad Impressions 
and painful trials produced by one of the gravest mis- 
understandings that could exist between two of the 
noblest characters In life. If the struggle was over, 
the " sharp agony " caused by the severance of a friend- 
ship so long and Intimate remained to remind each of 
the wide gulf henceforth existing between them. One, 
not understanding the real point at issue, In all sin- 
cerity blamed the other for what he called a lack of 
openness and confidence towards his superior, while 
the other, being no longer able to silence " the still, 
small voice within," deplored in the depth of his soul 
the sorrow he was causing his devoted Father and 
Friend. Only those who have passed through this same 
conflict can fathom the depth of that anguish, which 
may be likened to " a two-edged sword, reaching unto 
the division of the soul and the spirit." Heb. iv. 12. 

To augment. If possible, the grief of the already 
sorely tried pastor, seven of his parishioners who had 
for years listened to his counsels and followed his 
direction felt themselves drifting In the same current 
of doubt and Indecision. In their appeal to him they 
had only for reply these words spoken In the extremity 
of his anguish: " My children, I can no longer advise 
you, for I know not what I will do. You must now 
think and act for yourselves." In speaking afterwards 
to an Intimate friend, he said, " I felt as though I 
were about to leap Into a great chasm, knowing not 
where I would land." However, his humble prayer, 

35 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

'* Lord, what wilt 1 hou have me to do/' had already 
" pierced the clouds," for, " The Lord is nigh unto all 
them that call upon Him; to all that call upon Him 
in truth." Ps. cxliv. i8. " He healeth the broken of 
heart, and bindeth up their bruises." Ps. cxlvi. 3. 
His Ananias w^as to " Lead him on 

O'er moor and fen. o'er crag and torrent, till 
The night is gone." 

Cardinal Newman had wrestled ten long years 
" amid the encircling gloom " before he saw *' the 
morn — " He was well fitted to meet the exigencies 
of this case, for in passing through the same ordeal 
thirty years previous, he, in his turn had said, " I feel 
as though I am losing myself, as though I am throwing 
myself away, and know not w^hat will come of this 
determinate step." ^ 

'' In his own person Newman had stated and resolved 
the great alternatives: either Christianity is a human 
invention destined to have its day, or the primal inde- 
fectible Christianity is the Roman Church. It was 
litting, then, that he should have advanced to his con- 
clusion by sure steps though slow; that logic, and 
history, and the voice of conscience should play their 
se\-eral parts, and the evidence be weighed, objections 
tested and passion laid to rest." - 

* Letters and Correspondence. 

' Life of Cardinal Newman by Re\\ Wra. Barry, D.D. 



36 



CHAPTER ly 

1872 {continued) 

T TPON landing at Liverpool, Mr. Curtis, agreeably 
^^ to his promise, directed his steps towards Oxford 
— that center of Anglicanism, whose Universities have 
sent forth so many brilliant men, fired with ambition 
and zeal for the advancement of Anglican principles. 
Whilst maintaining their views, unknown to themselves, 
many were struggling against the light which was even- 
tually to bring them to the door of Truth. Carried 
along by the tide of their Intellectual reasonings some 
would have preferred to see Rome bend down to the 
Church of England If possible, rather than yield one 
jot or tittle of their elevated Ideas concerning Its teach- 
ings, and in their misguided zeal they held back num- 
berless souls who, notwithstanding, in the end, became, 
with themselves, loyal and devoted sons and daughters 
of holy Mother Church. 

The pure Catholic views of Mr. Curtis had grown 
and deepened with his years, for having trained his 
mind to commune with God In the sincerity of an up- 
right will In all that he undertook, he was now nearer 
the goal of his most ardent desires than he himself 
realized, and that at a moment when he was well-nigh 
ready to believe there was no truth to be found in this 
" vale of exile. '^ The great tempter of all good, taking 
advantage of the darkness In which this chosen " ves- 
sel of election " was submerged, spread his satanic 
snares more deeply, in order to precipitate his soul Into 
the depths of eternal night. 

" But the strength of his cry and the offering up of 
prayers and supplications to Him that was able to 

37 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

save him from death was heard for its reverence." 
Heb. V. 7. 

" He shall cry unto Me, and I will hear him," says 
the Lord. " I am with him In tribulation, I will deliver 
him and I will glorify him." Ps. xc. 15. 

In the vain search for a solution of his doubts, and 
sick at heart with the disappointments he met on every 
side, Mr. Curtis at last determined to confront the 
learned convert, Dr. Newman. Arming himself with 
the numberless objections and abstruse questions he 
had been so long revolving In his mind, he at once 
sought an Interview. It was quite early In the morning 
of March the 27th when he arrived at the Oratory 
at Edgbaston, and asked for the Doctor. He was told 
that " Father Newman had just finished saying his 
Mass, and was making his thanksgiving; would he be 
pleased to wait a while." The first words spoken by 
the Doctor after a cordial greeting was: " My young 
man, have you breakfasted already? If not, come 
with me to the refectory, after that I will listen to all 
you have to tell me." 

This first interview was a long and interesting one, 
and at its close, having referred feelingly to his own 
experiences of thirty years previous, the Doctor placed 
two books in the hands of his visitor and said: " Read 
these if you like, but pray and pray; nothing will help 
you more than humble prayer; and come to me when- 
ever you will, I am at your disposal." 

The three following beautiful letters written during 
his stay In England speak volumes : telling of the peace 
and repose found after so many struggles and sorrows; 
of his new-born happiness and overflowing joy which 
make him a " child again," and of the secure and safe 
shelter he finds through the ever open door of the only 
true Church. 

These letters are addressed In the name of one to 
several members of his congregation at Mt. Calvary 
Church, who, Imbibing his teachings and following his 

38 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

counsels for many years, deserved now to share in his 
triumph. Under his direction, some years previous to 
this date, three devout members of the congregation 
had left America to enter a ritualistic convent in Eng- 
land, but before he reached Liverpool one of them had 
become discouraged, and on account of troubles in her 
family was returning to Baltimore, passing her holy 
Director in mid-ocean; the second, remaining in Eng- 
land, was the first of his children to greet him in a 
foreign land, and to encourage him in his search for 
the truth, for she with her companion in religion shortly 
afterwards found an asylum in the bosom of Holy 
Mother Church, and both consecrated themselves to 
God — one in the Order of St. Dominic, and the other 
as a Sister of the Good Shepherd. To the third, who 
had lived under his direction from her childhood, he 
addressed the following lines: "I have resigned my 
charge at Mt. Calvary — a difficulty with the Bishop; 
I am here in England, investigating Catholicity, and if 
the Roman Catholic Church is not truth, then there is 
no God. Write me the day and hour I can see you. 
There is nothing in the system you have embraced. I 
was instrumental in your coming here, and I insist upon 
your returning to your family when I return to the 
States." It is needless to add, that it was deemed un- 
safe, by the Superioress of the convent for the protegee 
of Mr. Curtis to confer with him, and she was obliged 
in consequence to forego that satisfaction. She did, 
however, after a time, sever these bonds, to embrace 
holier and more lasting ones, for she too entered the 
true fold, and on her return to America became a mem- 
ber of the Order of the Visitation. 

This little digression is deemed necessary as it gives 
an insight to the workings of grace in the souls con- 
fided to his care. The three letters addressed to those 
he had left in America follow one another successively 
and portray the several alternations in his mind and 
heart — from depression and grief to the overflowing 

39 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

peace and joy which Hooded his soul when the full light 
broke upon it. 

Oxford, March 15, 1872. 
My dear Child: 

I am sure you and certain others whom you will 
know, and to whom I trust you to show this letter will 
desire to hear how I am faring. I cannot write to all 
to whom it would be a pleasure to write, and therefore 
I make you my agent and ask you to show my letter 
to those who desire to hear from me. Don't forget 

Doctor and Anna C. nor Mr. and Mrs. C Izzy 

and Sally you will remember of yourself. I should be 
glad also if you would let the Belts see this. I was 
very sorry that I had not seen them for some time 
before I left. But to begin. My passage was 
wonderfully tranquil, the season considered. Neither 
the weather nor sickness prevented me at any time 
from keeping the deck throughout the whole day. I 
ascribe the prosperousness of the passage solely to the 
prayers of the many kind souls who w^ere, I know, be- 
seeching God in my behalf. Nevertheless, the voyage 
was to me what all sea voyages are, namely, very 
dreary; we had very few passengers, and none of 
these few interested me much, although they were all 
pleasant enough. At sea I never can think or read, 
and so there was little to come between me and the 
feeling that I w^as sailing away from all dear to me, 
on an errand the most unpleasant of all that could have 
befallen me. I remained in Liverpool only just long 
enough to transact some indispensable things. It is to 
me a hateful place on account of its being totally im- 
mersed in money-making, and on account of the great 
rascality of most of those with whom a traveller comes 
in contact. In making the passage from Liverpool to 
Oxford I found the country already very green. The 
weather there w^as delightful and has since so remained; 
there has been no rain at all. The sun has shone 
40 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

throughout almost every day. The rooks are nesting 
and accompanying the process with a continual noise 
which is to me, however, very pleasant. To see these 
birds nesting in the very midst of the town of Oxford 
is one of the strangest things an American here finds. 
The skylarks are soaring and singing, robins in full 
song, trees coming into leaf, the hedges already green 
and flowers everywhere blooming in abundance. I 
arrived in Oxford a week ago to-day, late in the day. 
The next day I went to leave my letter with Dr. Pusey 
and to ask for an interview. But through the Doctor's 
son I learned that there was no chance at all of my see- 
ing his Father, he having been quite ill with some 
bronchial affection, and being already so much engaged 
that he cannot undertake any new thing. The next 
thing to be done was to find, if possible. Canon Lid- 
don, to whom I had a letter, and with whom I had 
promised to confer. But he was out of Oxford and 
also quite unwell, so there was no getting at either of 
the two whom I had crossed the ocean to see. I went 
next to call upon Father Benson. But he could do 
nothing at all for me. Were I to believe what he tells 
me I should at once fling the church and religion to 
the winds, and content myself for the future with the 
aim to make myself useful to my fellow-men in some 
secular calling. Father Benson, however, did me one 
service, namely, he told me Canon Liddon was in 
London. So the day after I went to London and left 
my letter with Mr. Liddon, whereupon he writes me 
that he is leaving London for three weeks and cannot 
see me until his return. Again I was thrown back 
upon myself. But in London I received a kind letter 
from the Bishop entreating me to confer with a Dr. 
Burgon, Rector of St. Mary's, Oxford, author of the 
" Plain Commentary," upon the Gospels. So yesterday 
I returned to Oxford to see Dr. Burgon. I have not 
yet called upon him, but shall do so this evening or 
to-morrow morning. But I know well enough to be 

41 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

sure that conference with him will be totally useless. 
Nevertheless I feel bound to comply with the Bishop's 
request; what I shall do when I have seen Dr. Burgon 
I do not know. For I shall not see Dr. Newman until 
I have conferred with Canon Liddon. But I do not 
think I shall spend the interim in Oxford, which has 
become to me extremely dreary. I have seen it before 
and am already familiar with all a stranger cares to 
visit. Indeed I have gone where strangers do not go; 
namely, all around the neighboring country, on foot. 
In one of my rambles I stumbled on " Littlemore," the 
place to which Dr. Newman retired from Oxford when 
he, like myself, had gotten totally out of tune with the 
Anglican Communion and was contemplating a trans- 
fer of his allegiance to Rome. 

The country here is certainly very beautiful, but Its 
very beauty makes me more lonely and homesick. I 
know no soul here save Father Benson, and go whole 
days without exchanging a word with anyone. For 
there Is no good, as I have said, in conferring with 
Father Benson, not to speak of the fact that he is too 
busy to give much time to me. And as I am lonely in 
the country, so I am more so in town. For Oxford 
now seems to me to be what Dr. Newman styles it, 
" a heap of dry honest 

When I want to say a private office, I have to go a 
long way to the Roman Chapel of St. Clement's, no 
other sacred place being open to me except at the hours 
of public service. All the churches are closed, and into 
the college chapels you cannot go save by feeing the 
verger, and even then he Introduces you not to pray, 
but to see what he considers worth pointing out. The 
undergraduates too, who make up so large a part of 
those whom one meets on the streets, are to me very 
disagreeable creatures. They seem, with few excep- 
tions, to be irreligious dogs, and to care for nothing 
save frolicking, rowing, cricketing and so forth. But 
you ask what Is to be the end of It all. I answer, I see 

42 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D, 

no end but my submission to Rome. I have not the 
slightest notion that anything can avert that result. I 
am postponing my final action merely to please others, 
and not because I see anything entitled to cause delay. 
I am under promise to see Dr. Pusey and Canon Lid- 
don If I can, before I try to find Dr. Newman. I shall 
fulfil this promise if in my power. Conference will and 
must leave me unchanged, and then if Dr. Newman 
will suffer me I shall call upon him to Instruct me and 
Introduce me Into the Roman obedience. It Is to me 
as certain as anything can be, that I must find what 
I seek there, or else must give up all concern whatever 
as to the truth. Please say to Izzy that Helen came 
to London to see me and that I was with her part of 
two days. It was refreshing to meet her. Please tell 
any of my friends, yourself included, to write to me If 
they wish, directing care of Brown, Shipley & Co., 
Liverpool. I want very much to hear how they are 
faring. Love to Ellie and Chrissie and all others. 
May the good Lord have you all In His keeping. 

Yrs, 
A. A. Curtis. 

Birmingham, March 27, 1872. 
My DEAR Child: 

I wrote to you from Oxford on the arrival of your 
first letter and requested you to show what I wrote to 
others. But this is all for yourself and Ellie and 
Chrissie. Your second letter reached me some hours 
ago, having travelled about awhile ere catching me. I 
think I wrote to you from Oxford when on the eve of 
conferring with Dr. Burgon. I afterwards saw him 
twice to no good effect, except It be good that my dis- 
satisfaction with Anglicanism should be rather deep- 
ened than removed. The Doctor scolded me very 
severely, but I cared so little for his scolding that I 
was not even tempted to retort In kind. I can, 1 am 
sure, do without a definite religion of any kind, but if 

43 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

I am to have a dehnite religion at all it must be more 
consistent than Dr. Burgon's, or else I prefer to dis- 
pense with it altogether. In Oxford I also conferred 
with Mr. Beuren, but he too was totally unsatisfactory, 
though not so severe as Dr. Burgon. He, however, 
was once very sharp. Neither touched my difficulties. 
After seeing them I went to Bristol to meet Canon 
Liddon. He is a man of an entirely different kind, very 
lovable and very clear-headed and fair-minded. Could 
I think it right to follow any one man implicitly I 
should, I think, select him as my guide. We had two 
long conferences and ventilated things very thoroughly. 
The result was that I could not consent to acquiesce in 
his conclusions. He sees and deplores all I see and 
deplore. He recognizes the errors and dissensions 
among us. He sees that almost all authority is against 
us, and that as resting upon our own judgment, we 
must, to maintain ourselves at all, resist authority. In 
all this, and in much more to the same purport, we were 
at one. But here we diverge. He is in no wise un- 
settled, and is determined to die where he is, because 
he is satisfied that things are no better in the Roman 
than in the Anglican Communion, whereas I am not 
willing to believe this until I have proven it to be a fact. 
And should it seem to me a fact, still Canon Liddon 
and I will diverge. For he is content to go on In what 
he thinks the best place to be found, while I don't think 
such a place worth maintaining and shall certainly 
cease to lay claim to any dehnite religion should I find 
as many contradictions In the Roman as I see In the 
Anglican position. I can't choose the Church simply as 
a lesser evil among other evils. I am quite sure that 
the Church, as we understand It, never existed at all 
If Anglicanism is to be regarded as the present phase 
of the Church. So after finishing with Canon Liddon, 
I came here to see Dr. Newman, and he has been so 
kind as to consent to see me to-morrow afternoon. I 
hope he will succeed in removing the obstacles which 

44 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

now seem to debar me from an entrance Into the Roman 
obedience. And every right-minded man ought to join 
me in that hope, for it is to me quite settled, that with 
me it is Rome or no definite religion. Nevertheless, 
the Doctor must meet me fairly and convince me 
fairly, or he shall not convince me at all. He must 
recognize facts and account for facts, for I shall not 
in the least shut my eyes to these facts. I know he is 
without guile, and I am sure too of the clearness of his 
head and of the soundness of his logic. So I expect 
great things of him in the way of dispersing difficulties. 
In the meantime I am glad to hear that you and Ellie 
have become certain as to what you ought to do, and 
have found peace in the certainty. It is a miserable 
thing to remain in doubt as to the things of the greatest 
and most lasting moment. Nevertheless one must be 
content with uncertainty till he reaches full assurance 
by fair means. Hence my slowness in doing what you 
have already done. You were certain and did right 
to act promptly upon the certainty. I hope to become 
certain, and when I am so, shall not long delay action. 
I am sorry to tell you that there are seats rented in the 
Oratory, and in all the Roman churches I have visited 
In England. This grieves me hugely, I need not say. 
The weather for the last week or two has been very 
dreadful. To-day is as dreary as any day can be — 
dark, cold and sleeting. Yet the country is vei*y green, 
frost does not seem to blight here as it does with us. 
Please make my congratulations and give my love to 
Chrissie. I hope she has chosen well. And, indeed, 
Mr. C. impressed me very favorably when I saw him, 
and I was unprejudiced, for I did not know he was lay- 
ing siege on Chrissie. Love too to Ellie and to your 
mother. Please convey my warm remembrance and 
my affection to the Beams. I can't say now when I 
shall start home. But I am thoroughly tired of wan- 
dering about England all alone. There are other 
countries where a solitary traveller could find it more 

45 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

comfortable. May the Lord have you all ever In His 
keeping. 

Yours faithfully, 

A. A. Curtis. 

Birmingham, April 20, 1872. 
My DEAR Child: 

I have delayed writing to you for the reason that I 
was in retreat when your last letter came, and then I 
wrote no more than was necessary. I thought too that 
you would sooner have a letter when all was well over, 
and I at last safe at home, than one telling you of my 
being still unreceived. I was received last Thursday, 
perhaps in the same way you were received. I was 
first conditionally re-baptized. That I might have 
escaped had I made a point about the matter, but I did 
not want to leave open any door whatever for the 
entrance of a scruple. I made a mistake. I first made 
a confession to one of the Fathers in his room, then 
I went into the chapel and was there baptized, kneel- 
ing before the altar, then versicles, collects and the 
Miserere were said; after which I made my profession 
in the creed of Pope Pius. Then Father Newman ab- 
solved me from excommunication and interdict, and 
finally in the confessional I received absolution. On 
Friday I made my Communion. I was to have been 
communicated by Father Newman, but he was too un- 
well to celebrate in the chapel, and my confessor com- 
municated me instead, for Father Newman would not 
hear my confession, that is, he preferred not to hear 
it. On Thursday, after my reception, we went to see 
the Bishop Ullathorne, or rather His Lordship, as to 
my confirmation. He was perfectly charming, but we 
had to behave ourselves, I tell you that. He was as 
cheery and as kind as a father, but behind it all was 
the authority ready to be asserted, but not in the least 
asserted, for the simple reason that there was no need 
of its assertion. He talked to us a deal, and as to 

46 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

much I knew nothing in the world about, and it is my 
behef, but you need not mention it, that Father Pope, 
my confessor, who was with me, did not know either. 
But both of us were too smart to betray ourselves. 
Going in and coming out we knelt and kissed the 
Bishop's ring, and he did give us his blessing so lov- 
ingly, and just as if he thought it was going to do us 
good. I could not help thinking that somehow we were 
the better for it. The Bishop said I was to come to 
him on Saturday and be confirmed in his own private 
chapel at 8 A. M. So Father Pope and I were off early 
this morning. The Bishop was as tremendously learned 
and as genial as ever. As we arrived before eight 
o'clock we went into the chapel a little before the time, 
and a delightful little place it is. The Bishop cele- 
brated Mass first, which he does usually in the chapel 
when at home. He has a magnificent voice, and has 
the clearest pronunciation of Latin I ever heard any- 
where. I could follow him perfectly without a book; 
he vested of course at the altar. His chasuble was very 
large and heavily embroidered. He won't wear, I am 
told, the cutaway chasubles now most common, at least 
in America. Many of the priests here use the full 
chasuble. After the Mass I was confirmed, kneeling 
before the Bishop seated at the middle of the altar. 
And again he made me feel through and through he 
was giving me something worth having. We stayed 
and breakfasted with him, and it struck me that he 
showed much less care for our stomachs than for our 
souls. The breakfast was tea first; I was afraid to 
take two cups, for it seemed to me that there was dan- 
ger of the tea-pot giving out; then there was toast. I 
did n't consider that there was more than enough of 
that for two, and so I would not have any of it at all. 
Thirdly, there was a good chunk of cold bread, and 
seeing there was plenty of that I helped myself liber- 
ally. The last thing was a dish of fried bacon, and not 
a large dish either. I got some of that, but not so 

47 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

much as I would have been glad to have, for I doubted 
the capacity of the dish to suffice for all if each took as 
much as he desired. On the whole I did nut think it 
much of a breakfast for *' my Lord " to set before his 
two guests. But he did not seem to know at all that it 
was anything less than princely. And so I took it 
into my head that " my Lord or not," yet he was not 
much used to making luxurious breakfasts, at least not 
at home. Now, whatever you do, don't let this break- 
fast story get out, for if you do, it will go all over 
Baltimore that the Bishop was so shabby that he would 
give me nothing to eat. I myself was quite charmed 
with the breakfast, and thought it very much to the 
credit of the Bishop that we got no better one. He is 
very poor; they put him in jail once for debt, and 
worst of all, for a debt he did not make. Some lady 
died and left him a thousand or two pounds of stock 
in some bank. He did not know much about banks, 
I suppose, and so he kept the stock just w^here it was 
when given. But the bank failed, and not being a 
limited bank each stockholder w'as bound for the whole 
debt of the corporation. And so they came after the 
Bishop when his stock was good for nothing, to pay an 
immense sum. He gave them all the money he had in 
the world, but they said he must call upon his people 
to make up the rest. He declined, and they answered 
that he should go to jail if he didn't. So he made 
ready and went to jail and stayed there, till they became 
disheartened and turned him out. While he was there 
the jail was full of grand visitors, and there was no 
end of the hampers of game and champagne, etc., that 
came for his use. I think it will be a good notion to 
have him sent to jail again, just before I next breakfast 
with him. Perhaps he will bring some of the hampers 
home with him. At breakfast he discoursed in his 
usual erudite way. He was a Benedictine, and they 
get their living mainly out of books. He told me some 
things about the late Council which surprised me no 
48 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

little. One was that the Council was determined upon 
first, with a view to revising the Canon Law, and that 
the prerogatives of the Holy See were defined as an 
after-thought, when the bad people began to get up a 
hubbub. And that struck me as so like what the Church 
ought to be and all along has been; namely, she lets 
people alone, till they begin to contradict, deny and 
rebel, and then instead of humoring them, as is the 
case in places known to me, she wakes up and says: 
'* What is all this stir about? What for are you quar- 
relling as to my meaning? This Is what I mean and 
what I meant all along. And now stop your noise, and 
go along and do your work In your own place. If you 
don't I '11 deliver you to Satan. Rest you certain of 
that. If you quarrel before I define I will forgive you 
if you yield with a good grace, but if you presume to 
quarrel after I have spoken, I will cut you off to a cer- 
tainty." Among the many things the Bishop told us, 
was one to the effect that we had no full vows in 
America. I was rather Inclined to bristle at this until 
he said neither were there any in England. In neither 
case have they what are called solemn vows; though 
in both they have vows just as binding on the conscience. 
I did not understand Canonical distinction. One of 
the chief benefits of becoming a Catholic Is just the 
fact that you find so much you don't understand, and 
that makes you feel as If you had gone back a long 
way, and turned baby again. And it 's very nice to be 
a baby when you have such a grand thing as the Church 
to take you In its arms and carry you along. I am in- 
tensely happy every hour In the day for my second 
babyhood. It Is so very nice to leave off pretending to 
know and to judge, and to be quite certain that you are 
where the judging will be done for you. T just believe 
whatever I am told, and I have been told nothing that 
I find any difficulty In receiving. When you do thor- 
oughly give up your self-conceit and self-will, and with- 
out any reserve say to Holy Church, "Mother, I don't 

49 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

know and I don't want to know, and don't dream of 
trying to know; It 's your place to know for me," you 
do get so happy. Then the feeling that you have found 
the real thing at last, and need not sneak any more, 
that is just delightful. You don't have to sneak out 
your invocations of the saints any more. You don't 
sneak to confession, you don't adore the Master In 
the Sacrament In a half-surreptitious way; what your 
heart longs to do you may do to your heart's content, 
and nobody will dream of calling you names. Yes, 
this secure feeling that you have found the reality, and 
this way to Catholic things In an open way is a very 
great rest. You feel not only as if a child again In Ig- 
norance, but a child also In truth and simplicity. It Is 
a hard battle to put to death totally self-will, but when 
you have conquered, and you are really and finally sub- 
mitted, and are quite sure that nothing can ever make 
you undo your submission, there comes so great a calm 
and so full a joy, such certainty, such blessed Incred- 
ible faith, that you don't know your own self. And 
you almost wonder whether you are not dreaming. 
There are only two or three things that try to bother 
me now, and they don't succeed In the least. One Is, 
" What right has such a sinner as you to all this blessed- 
ness?" I answer, I haven't any right, I don't even 
fancy I have. God called me just because I was such a 
sinner that there was no chance at all out of the Church 
Catholic. So now, Satan, take that and be off. An- 
other thing Is, that one feels so utterly contemptible 
when he sees how good many Catholics are without 
suspecting It. I wonder why the devil don't tell them 
they are good. Not one of the Fathers here has any 
notion that he Is good. They do great things in such 
a matter-of-course way, they don't seem to make any 
effort. They don't make the first particle of fuss over 
you, not they. They seem to think you have done a 
wise thing, but at the same time a thing you could not 
help doing; It was so much the only wise thing to be 

50 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

done. They come in at dinner and put you down in the 
place of honor, and put on an apron and serve. But 
there is no air in the way they do it at all. They are 
all converts from Anglicanism, save one, and he is the 
only one who has any drollery about him. He has 
found out I like fun, and at dinner, where we are not 
allowed to speak, he sometimes casts his eye so comic- 
ally at me, that I could titter if I were not afraid of 
disgracing myself. Father Newman rarely smiles, but 
he is as far as possible from anything approaching 
moroseness. He all the while sees the tremendous 
things of the invisible world so plainly that there is 
no place left in him for mirth. I don't suppose he 
knows at all what a joke means. But some of the 
others do. But my man is the only one who brims 
over with fun. And he never had to fight like all the 
rest of us, such a long way through the toils ere he 
found his rest. But the Fathers don't astonish me quite 
as much as some others. I went the other day to see 
the Little Sisters of the Poor, and I sneaked away 
feeling like a whipped dog. I did not think myself 
worth even a whipping. They had eighty of the most 
horrible creatures to care for that one could find any- 
where. I would not live among the dreadful things 
on any account. It made me miserable just to take 
one look at them. But the sisters were just radiant 
with joy. They bubbled over with happiness; they 
evidently like the creatures the more, the more horrible 
they are. They fondled them, petted them, just as if 
they had been nice clean babies, or spic-and-span new 
angels just made, and not having had time to ruffle 
their feathers. And why on earth don't these miserable 
old creatures quarrel and fight, I asked. I am sure 
if I had the managing of them they would do nothing 
else but growl and snarl the whole day. I could not 
understand it at all. But the poor seemed almost as 
happy as the sisters themselves. Twenty or thirty old 
women in one room and not the faintest approach to 

51 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

a squabble. As many more old men all together too, 
and just as cheery and good-tempered as if each was 
just waiting to be crowned a king. I could not admire 
the sisters very much, because their goodness went too 
clean beyond me. It just puzzled me out and out. If 
they had been putting on anything I should have de- 
tected them in a second. But they were not putting 
on, that was certain. I sneaked back to the Oratory, 
and went into my private chapel, and made a medita- 
tion about the sisters, but I could not see even after- 
wards how they contrived to be so good and so happy. 

You must know I, being the prodigal son come home, 
have extra privileges. And on the same floor with 
myself, and only a few feet oft, is a little chapel whence 
I overlook the Blessed Sacrament. And there like a 
king I meditate, or pray or hear Mass without being 
exposed to the gaze of the community. I always go 
there and make my manners to my Master before I 
lie down at night. I tell Him that home is so nice 
and I am so glad to be there, and that I do feel so 
safe and happy. And I never go without reminding 
Him about those in Baltimore who were so good to 
me, and whom I love ten times more than ever. I tell 
Him they must all come Home, and that I shall never 
leave off remonstrating with Him until He brings them. 
And it is so much like Heaven to be there, when all is 
so still and so sacred, and to talk to Him as long as 
one wills, face to face. And I can't help, for I don't 
try to help, thinking that He answers back so gently, 
and congratulates me for having returned from doubt 
and wandering to certainty and peace. What could 
be more like Heaven than to sleep under the same roof 
with Him ! 

I went also to see a little first seed just planted of 
a Passionist monastery. There are only two Fathers 
and one lay brother. They are in a mean little house 
with only two little boxes of rooms below. Behind is 
a small schoolroom and alongside a little chapel. 

52 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

There was only one Father at home. And he too was 
disgustingly good and happy. There he was in his 
black robe and leathern girdle, with the white heart 
and the other symbols of the Passion, looking as if 
he never ate, or slept or did anything else that other 
mortals do. And then, besides, he has to go through 
scourgings and what else I don't know, and, between 
ourselves, hope to be excused from knowing; but he 
was just like a lark, as old daddy Krebs used to say. 
He was heir to wealth, but the poor fool gave it all 
up to starve and whip himself every day, and, strangest 
of all, he did not know, evidently, that he was an un- 
common creature. He just sat down and talked as 
cheerily as if he had enough to eat and had good 
clothes, and was not living in a hovel, and never ex- 
pected to be whipped any more. And yet it was: 
" Now you must be hungry. Do let me make you a 
cup of tea; I can do it directly. Well, then, may I 
get you a glass of wine? " I did n't intend to demean 
myself by eating and drinking in his presence. Neither 
would Father Pope. 

When he could not do anything else for us he raced 
off upstairs and came down with a snuff-box, and made 
Father Pope fill his nose as full as it would hold, and 
he did really take one little snuff himself, and that was 
the only thing human about him I saw. I was made 
very happy by that pinch of snuff, for that proved that 
he was flesh and blood, which I had before been in- 
clined to dispute. And yet there can't be much flesh 
and blood about him either, or he would not keep the 
snuff-box upstairs, but in his pocket. The Bishop takes 
snuff. But once in a while he gets fearfully virtuous 
and won't snuff, and then the chapter meet and notify 
him, that if he don't fill up his box they prepare to 
strike at once, because they find him cross unless he 
mollifies himself with a pinch now and then. 

But I must use up the rest of my paper in telling you 
about a man who is just opposite me on the other side 

53 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

of the corridor.^ He is somebody, — an Oxford fel- 
low, head of a large congregation not far from here. 
But he has been a great sinner; I am nothing in com- 
parison. He had incense, copes and closed chasubles, 
and half a bushel of candles all burning at once. I 
don't know what he did n't do, and all under the Bishop 
of Lichfield's nose. He came over to America and 
wanted to know why something was not done with me, 
and here in his diocese was this man, and plenty more, 
doing what I never dreamed of doing. This poor 
soul and I came here by the same road. Neither of us 
could find out what we were obeying, and both looked 
out for something to obey, and neither could find any- 
thing he felt entirely safe in obeying save the Holy 
See. Like me, he groped about, hoping to find some- 
thing else, because again, like me, he did not fancy at 
first the being obliged to receive any and everything 
the Holy See had said or might say. But it was no 
use, so he gave in at last and came here to be made 
over into a little baby. And again, like me, he finds 
the process not dreadful at all. He comes and talks 
to me and asks me what he will have to do. He 
is so simple-hearted and ready to believe what he is 
told, that I am half inclined to tell him that the very 
first thing done to him will be to give him a most tre- 
mendous flogging; the next to put him down in the 
cellar for a week, and so on and so on. I think if I 
did he would believe me and begin to prepare himself 
for it all. You know I put on a very superior sort of 
air, as being in the Church some time before him. He 
thinks the Ritualists here have run out their line and 
will smash up soon, which has been my opinion also 
for some time. But you must have had more than 
enough of nonsense. I am coming home ere very long, 
and am going to do just whatever I am told. If the 
authorities feel disposed to make me a street sweeper 

^ Rt. Rev. Mgr. W. Croke [Robinson, M. A. " Roads to Rome," Rau- 
pert, page 218. 

54 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

I don't think I shall much care. But I am resolved that 
1 won't be either a Little Sister of the Poor or a Pas- 
sionist monk. I have written a deal of fun, but indeed 
I am as happy as a beggar. 

Like him, I don't know and I don't care what is to 
become of me. 

Love to Ellie and Chrissie and all others. God bless 
you all. 

Yrs, 

A. A. Curtis. 

Only one letter in answer to these intimate communi- 
cations seems to have been preserved, and it should be 
given in full, as it depicts in such lively colors the work- 
ings of a sincere and disinterested soul, zealous for 
the greater good. 

This letter seems to have crossed the one written 
by the venerated pastor after his visit to the Oratory, 
for it refers only to a " promised interview," thus keep- 
ing his correspondents in longer suspense. Be it said 
to the credit of the seven members of his congregation, 
who with him were forced by their religious convic- 
tions to abandon themselves to an uncertainty in seek- 
ing the truth, they did not permit themselves to be in- 
fluenced by his movements, but, on the contrary, de- 
layed not in making investigations, and by earnest 
prayer and fidelity in following the light, they were 
safely housed in the true Ark even before their be- 
loved pastor returned; and when Mr. Curtis was 
made a priest, not one of them chose to show a pref- 
erence for him who had known and understood so well 
their individual needs and difficulties. 

Baltimore, Md., April 12. 
My dear Father : 

I read last night your letter to the Haywards, writ- 
ten on the eve of your interview with Dr. Newman. It 
seemed strange at first that you should have written 
before rather than after you had seen him, but seeing 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

one must face the fact that there were two possible 
issues to your conference, it was good of you to do it. 
At least in the interval one may hope and pray for all 
things. I heartily hope I may have read your letter 
wrong — it has greatly saddened no one but me. The 
others see only the former assertion that if you cannot 
render allegiance to the Roman Church there is noth- 
ing else left to you — I mean as regards religious 
faith. To me you seem to say more now when you 
say that unless facts are accounted for and difficulties 
cleared away you will not believe. Of course I don't 
even know^ what your difficulties are. When I had to 
decide the question for myself I saw after a little 
thought that the only rational thing for me to do, as 
to all difficult questions resting on ecclesiastical history 
or anything else which I could not myself examine, 
was simply to put these aside. Before we w^ent to Mr. 
Lee it had with me come to this — if our Lord Jesus 
Christ is a verity He established a church; if there be 
on earth the church of His founding it is the Church 
of Rome. Then I had only to go to a living authorized 
teacher of that Church, and when I found that her doc- 
trines as stated and explained by him neither contra- 
dicted anything I knew to be true nor contained any- 
thing I could not conscientiously accept — to render 
her full and unquestioning submission. Of course your 
case altogether differs from mine, your responsibilities 
and difficulties are immeasurably greater, but this never 
alarmed me — only the making conditions — the de- 
manding that all should be cleared up seemed fearful. 
Dr. Newman's silence on a question that tortures so 
many hearts seemed to show that he could not utterly 
explain and clear away difficulties — that he was con- 
strained to say to the church sent by the Son as He 
had been sent by the Father, what Simon Peter had 
said to our Lord when the many fell away before the 
great mystery proposed to them: "To whom shall 
we go? Thou only hast the words of eternal life." 

S6 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

I do not see where the little child is, if one Is to take 
nothing on trust. I dare say I have read you wrongly 
and shall have to beg your pardon; besides, your case 
is settled before this, and if it were not I could not say 
anything. What were you doing all the early part of 
to-day I wonder. Something very prosaic, I have n't 
a doubt. One rarely finds extraordinary coincidences 
outside of books. Did you know you wrote your letter 
to me the day of our confirmation? We speculated as 
to the time of its writing — eight o'clock with us 
would be about one with you. Becky has doubtless 
told all about the pews — that the seats are free 
throughout the week, and at the four first masses 
on Sunday — locked only at High Mass, Benediction 
and Vespers. If this doesn't alter the principle (and 
I don't see that it does) at least it makes one to go to 
church without at all concurring in the system. In- 
deed, practically it does n't touch me at all. I am 
physically so strong that I am a good subject for the 
aisle, and then one is not obliged to be present at High 
Mass (though one certainly wants to be) ; and in 
most of the churches there 's a children's Mass with an 
instruction at nine o'clock, and since the Instructions are 
very good and the sermons rarely so, In one point of 
view one might gain by the exchange ; lastly, by going 
early one Is sure of the last seats at the Cathedral, 
which are out of hearing and therefore not rented; 
here, too, there are a plenitude of very devout poor 
people for Immediate neighbors, though I can't say the 
advantages arising therefrom are unmixed. I have 
not spoken to Mr. Lee about the pews since I got your 
letter, for two reasons : First, now our Instructions are 
over I don't see him except In the confessional, and he 
Is so overworked, now that he and Mr. Dougherty are 
In sole charge of the Cathedral,^ that I would n't ask 

» Archbishop Spalding died on the 7th of Februaiy, 1872, and until the 
installation of his successor, the Very Rev. James Dougherty administered 
the diocese. 

57 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

to see him except it were absolutely necessary, and 
secondly, I have already said, though perhaps not with 
your vigor, what it, pew renting, was in our eyes, and 
he said, what perhaps was all he could say, considering 
that he is least in rank at the Cathedral (the Arch- 
Bishop, V^icar-General and Mr. Dougherty all rank- 
ing him), that beyond all question it was wrong — 
churches should be free; then, with a sigh, shelved the 
difficulty in what seems the usual way: " It is unknown 
in Catholic countries." I don't think less and I feel in- 
finitely more than I ever did before the enormity, the 
horribleness of the system. There is but one place in 
town where the pews are not rented, and there I am 
afraid we are out of place. I mean the Seminary. I 
have never been there except once to Vespers and Bene- 
diction. There is everything to make it immeasurably 
dearer than anywhere else, — the congregation of 
Seminarians below in their cassocks, cottas and bi- 
rettas; the full, strong chanting; the perfect unan- 
imity and profound reverence; the greater fullness of 
the service; then one's own surroundings — the dark, 
bare little gallery with only very poor people for its 
occupants, and the Seminarian boxed up to himself — 
who plays the organ. After all, outsiders are expected 
to come or the accommodations provided would be in- 
explicable. I, too, was surprised at first at the absence 
of any peculiarly Roman teaching in the sermons; but 
it is not in the least neglected. Manuals, for instance, 
are essentials and there is no authorized manual that 
does not fix It all. Even matters not defined as of 
faith but universally received, as the assumption, are 
indirectly enforced. One is not required to profess 
faith in it but one is required to keep the day as a holi- 
day of obligation, and is advised to say the Rosary, 
of which that is one of the glorious mysteries. One 
cannot confess without using the invocation of Saints, 
and the multitude of prayers to which indulgences " ap- 
plicable to the dead " are attached demand at once a 

58 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

practical faith In purgatory and In the power of the 
Pope — then the abundant provision for instruction to 
children makes it unnecessary to reiterate it perpetu- 
ally when they are grown. 

I wonder greatly that the spectacle of the lives of 
the priests does not carry greater weight with it. Such 
a life In a single man works wonders, and how much 
greater Is the miracle witnessed in a whole class. Take 
Father Lee's Easter. He was in the confessional from 
nine o'clock In the morning to midnight Holy Saturday 
(I suppose of course he may have come out for some- 
thing to eat at twelve) ; but one of the Cathedral 
ladies told me she went to his confessional at two In the 
afternoon and could not get in until eight, the service 
which commenced at nine and lasted till two being 
handed over to the Seminarians. To me 'twas out of 
question the most beautiful of all the services — 
more so than Maundy Thursday even; the blessing of 
the new fire and relighting of the Sanctuary light and 
altar candles; the prophecies, the blessing of the font, 
and then the Litany of the Saints so simply, grandly 
and heartily chanted, when, verily. Heaven and earth 
seemed thrown into one; and finally the Mass with all 
its joyful accompaniments. It is strange that accord- 
ing to the nowadays arrangement all the Easter glad- 
ness should come so early on Saturday. To return to 
the confessional - — Mr. Dougherty too came to his 
place at nine. He had broken down Friday, so that 
some one In the choir had to take his part of the Tene- 
brae, and he looked worn out to begin with. Easter, 
Father Lee had the two first masses at six and seven. 
Owing to the Immense number of communicants, there 
was scarcely five minutes' Interval. We stayed for both, 
and then after breakfast I went to the Archbishop's 
house to see about Haynie; I hated to add to the day's 
labors, but was afraid to wait. For once he was not 
engaged — said he was not at all busy, his Easter work 
was over (he had told us a week before that Mr. 

59 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

Dougherty was to preach the Easter sermon) ; but 
while we were talking a man came for him, and I heard 
what passed in the hall. He wanted Father Lee to 
see a girl in some alley who was dying. Father Lee 
asked how old she was, whether she had made her 
First Communion; the man didn't know; could she 
swallow the Blessed Sacrament? Her teeth were 
clenched — he did n't know. He came back and fin- 
ished with me, making an appointment for Haynie, 
then went in the Cathedral for the Blessed Sacrament. 
After High Mass I remarked to the Haywards that 
the sermon was the best we had heard and that the 
preacher wasn't Mr. Dougherty after all, for he had 
a black head, whereas this preacher's was light. I got 
laughed at in return and was told it was Father Lee. 
Mr. Dougherty had proved too ill to leave the house, 
and Father Lee preached at twenty minutes' warning. 
That evening he sung Vespers and Benediction. We 
found the pith of part of the sermon or meditation 
rather in Challoner's meditation for Easter Monday. 
Of course I am not founding my opinion as to the 
priests' lives on unusual occurrences like this. It is 
the insight into every-day cases that impress me. 

Dear Father, I have been trying to put your present, 
perhaps now your past struggle from my mind, and 
write as I would if there were no fear, but I cannot do 
it. I can neither write what I want nor as I want; in 
spite of everything I do believe I read your letter 
aright. If your case rested with Dr. Newman I would 
not have the shadow of a hope. But it does not. It 
is, as you said yourself, of the judgment, and surely this 
is your fiery trial — nothing but "invincible faith in, 
and invincible love to the Person of Christ " can enable 
any man to stand it. 

Yesterday — I am writing this on Sunday — was 

fixed for our second Communion; by an accident I 

could not communicate then and went to-day instead. 

Truly, as Ellie says, the trial is over by this, and what 

60 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

can prayers avail now — and yet I could but carry with 
me but one thirst and one petition. As St. Paul could 
wish to become accursed for Israel's sake, I would to 
God I might be wrecked if so you might be saved from 
this. All day there has been in my mind your own 
reading of the legend. The child who at the setting 
forth was scarcely felt, a weight that well-nigh crushed 
the giant's strength before the end was reached. 
Surely what we see is only the staggering that shows 
the human strength is nearly spent — the end is nearly 
reached. Since He who is the burden is the strength 
and He who sends the darkness is the Light, there is 
nothing we may not hope — His love and power and 
truth never can be questioned. To doubt is simply to 
doubt you, and that I neither will nor can until the end. 
You must be called to great and hard service to be so 
tried. I both believe and hope as to the end — not 
through Dr. Newman but through Christ our God. 

Faithfully yours, 

I. B. M. 

It is to be regretted that the several interviews 
which Mr. Curtis had with Dr. Newman during his 
stay in England cannot be told in full, for they must 
have been of a most interesting character. It may, 
however, suffice to sum up all in the words spoken by 
him years afterwards to an intimate friend in the 
priesthood: To his various enquiries concerning the 
subjects which most occupied him at the moment, such 
as the Popes Honorious and Liberius, Bishop Dupan- 
loup and Pere Gratry, the learned doctor replied that, 
'' There were answers to these difficulties which he did 
not thoroughly study himself because there was so 
much else true in the Church that these did not bother 
him." *' Do you," he continued to say, " believe in the 
Scriptures, and do you understand all contained 
therein? " *' This closed my mouth," said Mr. Curtis, 
" except to ask for baptism at once." 
6i 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

After being baptized conditionally, made a true sol- 
dier of Christ by the " imposition of hands," and 
strengthened with might through the indwelling of the 
Holy Spirit, the fervent Neophyte felt himself fully 
equipped to begin anew. Desiring to make of his life 
a perfect holocaust for the salvation of souls, he con- 
ferred with his newly found Director regarding his as- 
pirations towards the religious state. In following the 
rule of St. Bruno, whose austerities and love of soli- 
tude he so greatly esteemed. 

From this laudable desire he was, however, gently 
but firmly dissuaded by Dr. Newman, who, recognizing 
the benefit his virtues and talents would be to the world 
at large, with the superadded Influence of his example, 
advised him to return to America and put himself at 
the disposal of the Archbishop of Baltimore. 



62 



CHAPTER V; 
1872-1875 

THE dawning of the year 1872 brought mourning 
to the Archdiocese of Baltimore by the passing 
away of its beloved Archbishop, the Most Reverend 
John Martin Spalding, who, by his amiable character 
and gentle manner, endeared himself to all. He was 
succeeded by the Right Reverend James Roosevelt 
Bayley of Newark, who was consecrated Archbishop 
of Baltimore on the 30th of July, and installed on the 
13th of the following October. During the interval 
the Very Reverend James Dougherty, rector of the 
Cathedral, was administrator, and to him Mr. Curtis 
tendered his obedience on his return to America. 
After a short vacation passed with his mother and sis- 
ters, he spent the rest of the summer at St. Charles 
College, Ellicott City, Maryland, where he prepared 
himself to enter St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore, con- 
ducted by the Sulpicians, that venerable society whose 
members have for long years so well prepared and 
admirably fitted innumerable young men for the 
priesthood. 

These two landmarks of Maryland Catholicity 
would seem to deserve at least a passing notice, having 
been connected so intimately with the subject of this 
biography; indeed one of his last acts of kindness was 
In favor of an inmate of St. Charles. The land for the 
building of a college where young aspirants to the 
priesthood might be educated was given to the Sul- 
picians by Charles Carroll of Carrollton, one of the 
signers of the Declaration of Independence, and cousin 
of John Carroll, the first Archbishop of Baltimore, 

63 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

who as early as 1791 welcomed and encouraged a col- 
ony of Sulpiclans to open a seminary in the newly 
formed diocese. This seminary in time became 
known as " St. Mary's Seminary of St. Sulpice.'' St. 
Charles College, a preparatory seminary, or, as called 
in foreign countries, '* Petit Seminaire," owes its origin 
to the zeal of Archbishop Marechal, third Archbishop 
of Baltimore, furthered by the venerable " Signer," 
who added to the generous gift of two hundred and fifty 
acres a handsome donation In bank stocks with the fol- 
lowing fervent prayer: ''May this gift be useful to 
religion and aid our Church in rearing those who will 
guide us in the way of truth." How fully the prayer 
of the fine old patriot has been answered is now a mat- 
ter of history. The names of hundreds of famous 
alumni, including His Eminence, Cardinal Gibbons, 
testify to the devoted, self-sacrificing efforts of the 
saintly Sulpician Fathers who dedicate their lives to 
this beautiful work. 

St. Mary's Seminary enjoys the singular privilege 
of occupying the same premises purchased in 1791, 
though new buildings have, in course of time, been 
erected, but the historic college at Ellicott City was 
swept out of existence in 191 1 by inexorable flames, 
its destruction being an immense loss to the hard-work- 
ing Fathers. Not only did It mean the disbanding of 
their school, but likewise the sacrifice of valuable manu- 
scripts and priceless paintings, together with a library of 
more than sixteen thousand volumes. The indomitable 
spirit of the sons of Monsieur Olier was not crushed, 
however, and soon from the ashes of old St. Charles 
arose the foundations of the new, under the protec- 
tion of " Maria Spes Nostra," not indeed at Ellicott 
City, but at Cloud Cap, Catonsville, where It will con- 
tinue that sacred mission, " stamped with the seal of 
the divinity." Mr. Curtis was in his forty-second year 
when he presented himself at St. Mary's Seminary, 
filled with hope for the future and quite ready to begin 

64 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

again his studies for the ministry; to become one 
with the seminarians, whose senior he was, not only 
in years, but, In many cases. In virtue, talent and 
experience. The kind reception of the Fathers who 
were to be his teachers, and the hearty welcome of the 
students made Mr. Curtis very happy, while the sweet 
quiet of his new surroundings charmed him. His long 
settled meditative habits of mind and former earnest 
reading of the Scriptures and Fathers of the Church 
helped to make him feel at home In this delightful re- 
treat of solitude and prayer; and his many years of 
self-discipline, coupled with his energetic character and 
faithful correspondence to grace, smoothed away the 
difficulties of this new life. 

In those days the students rose as early as five 
o'clock, and made an hour's meditation before hearing 
holy Mass; they were obliged to keep their room In 
order, to sweep It and make their own bed, as well as 
their fire In winter, carrying the wood themselves. 

Lacordaire once said to a friend who could not 
adapt himself to the life at St. Sulpice : " A priest 
who has not passed through the Seminary will never 
acquire the ecclesiastical spirit." " I loved the Semi- 
nary life," Bishop Curtis often remarked In after 
years, " and I found nothing very difficult, not even to 
take my place beside the young fellows on the bench." 

But what better authority for these edifying reminis- 
cences of Mr. Curtis' life at the Seminary, than quota- 
tions from the notes of one of his fellow seminarists, 
who says that among the fortunate events of his life 
he counts not as the least his acquaintance with the 
humble, learned and saintly Bishop Curtis, with whom 
he was raised to the sacred priesthood, at one and the 
same ordination. " The room assigned to Mr. Curtis 
at the Seminary," he adds, " was on the third floor at 
the extremity of the south wing of the building, a part 
of old St. Mary's College. Like the other semi- 
narists he had to keep his room In order, sweeping it 

6s 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

himself, making his bed and attending his fire in winter. 
It was in this room, as I well remember, that on the 
day of his ordination he heard his first confession; 
the humble, hasteful penitent being Mr. Tabb, after- 
wards the noted poet priest. Mr. Tabb had already 
as a Protestant been his penitent, he was now eager to 
claim his old Confessor's first care." '* I received so 
many absolutions before that did not count, I 
wanted one at least that did," was his remark to the 
students. 

Mr. Tabb had been from his earliest years one of 
the closest friends of Mr. Curtis, and was associated 
with him in the Protestant Episcopal church. Though 
so unlike in every respect, except in their love of retire- 
ment, simplicity and unworldliness, the peculiar tem- 
perament of the one called forth the benevolence of 
the other, and years after when Father Curtis was 
made a Bishop he could be seen regularly wending his 
way to St. Charles College to visit his friend, some- 
times even walking the five miles which covered the 
distance between the railroad station and the college. 
Although Mr. Tabb had entered the Church six months 
earlier than Mr. Curtis, his elevation to the priesthood 
was much later, and he had in the meantime retired to 
St. Charles College, where he pursued a more varied 
course of study and finally became a professor in that 
institution. It was here his long trusted friend visited 
him, and by his solid counsels and patient ministrations 
became his consoling angel in the hour of his greatest 
trial and darkness, when threatened with the total loss 
of sight. Together they took long walks through the 
country, recreating each other in exchanging reminis- 
cences, one submitting to the criticism of his friend 
his latest verses, while the other cheered him by his 
encouragement. 

Indeed the Bishop was occupied with his sorely tried 
friend up to the last moment of his life, sending him 
kind and encouraging words from his death-bed, and 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

even bequeathing to him his chalice. Strange to say, 
Father Tabb survived the Bishop only one year, dying 
at St. Charles College, among the devoted Sulpicians. 
The chalice of the venerated Bishop then became the 
property of the faculty, who came near losing their 
relic at the time of the disastrous fire. Having with 
great difficulty succeeded in saving the Blessed Sacra- 
ment, the President, Reverend F. X. McKenny, spoke 
of the chalice which was kept in a room on the third 
floor. One of the students rushed forward and ofiered 
to ascend to the room above, hoping to rescue the 
sacred vessel from the flames; immediately three long 
ladders were spliced and placed against the wall of the 
doomed building; the young man quickly mounted, and 
making his way through the dense volume of smoke to 
the place indicated, returned with the coveted treasure, 
and then sank exhausted to the ground. 

But to return to the notes of Mr. Curtis' fellow 
companion at the Seminary: " In the lecture-room he 
was seated close up to the professor's rostrum and to 
his left hand. Lectures, as well as recitations, were in 
Latin. Though quite familiar with the language, our 
student in the beginning experienced not a little diffi- 
culty in expressing himself with fluency. In fact, he 
was more conversant with Greek, and was also a good 
Hebraist. He was rather reserved In class, not ven- 
turing to express an opinion unless called upon by the 
professors. In the prayer hall, as I remember, he was 
posted near the lower door of entrance — was In fact 
door-keeper — and very prompt was he, as all well 
knew, to shove the little bolt Into place when the time 
limited for entering there had expired; and they who 
were late for the exercise had now to put In their ap- 
pearance at the upper door, directly under the eyes of 
the Superior. 

'' I cannot recall distinctly the place usually occupied 
by him In the chapel, though In his last year, when 
already a sub-deacon, he must have been In one of the 

67 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

rear stalls, where also he was, probably, the year pre- 
vious. He was profoundly religious and the very soul 
of piety, but I think his general deportment at prayer 
and divine services was in no way remarkable, and has 
left no special impression upon my memory. Nor can 
1 with certainty point to his place in the refectory. His 
acts of self-mortification at table, however, I do re- 
member, for they could not be hid, and were frequently 
commented on by the students. We thought his fasts 
rigorous, while he considered them slight, and not to 
be compared with those to which he had been accus- 
tomed. In many a former penitential season his prac- 
tice was to partake neither of food nor drink all day, 
until toward sunset. It was from the high desk in the 
refectory that at dinner we used to deliver our prac- 
tice sermons, and these we were obliged to memorize 
and preach just as they had been written. Mr. Curtis 
found this requirement irksome; yet, such was his 
childlike obedience that he conned his manuscript, word 
for word, as the merest tyro. Indeed he was ever a 
close observer of the rule, a shining light and beautiful 
example to us all. 

*' From the start Mr. Curtis became a favorite with 
us students, and his manners and conversation a source 
of edification. He associated freely with the various 
members of the community, and by most of us it was es- 
teemed a privilege to pass one's time of recreation in 
his company. His talk was instructive, entertaining 
and often quite amusing. He was not opposed to ban- 
ter, and he seemed to enjoy a joke. When he first ap- 
peared in clerical garb, we noticed that he wore a biret- 
tum with four lobes — a doctor's cap — instead of the 
regulation cap with but three lobes. He avowed he 
was not aware of the distinction, and had made the 
purchase in good faith, and he laughed heartily at his 
apparent presumption. He said he had used birettum, 
cassock and sash as minister; the sash, however, had 
served him for stole instead of belt or waist band. He 
68 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

always spoke of his former co-religionists in the kind- 
liest manner, and insisted much on their good faith re- 
specting the Church. As far as he, himself, was con- 
cerned, he assured us he was not one hour in bad 
faith; still, he could not deny that in his earlier days 
he was greatly prejudiced against Catholics. He used 
to tell with considerable amusement how he managed 
to get his first glimpse of a real, live Papist. A circus 
was coming to a distant town, and it was reported that 
a certain gentleman and family down the country, who 
were Catholics, were expected to be amongst the audi- 
ence at the performance. Mr. Curtis, then a good- 
sized lad, walked many a mile to town, not so much, 
said he, to see the circus, as to gratify his curiosity 
with respect to these individuals. He wanted to see 
for himself what Catholics looked like; he had heard 
and read such shocking things about them, that he felt 
quite sure they must differ from other folks, and prove 
more exciting and novel than the show. Again with 
regard especially to priests, he said, although he had 
learned to reverence them in his heart, the sight of one 
on the streets, even up to recent date, greatly agitated 
him. If he turned a corner and espied one advancing 
on the same side, he crossed over to the other side it 
possible; for he felt his flesh ' a-creeping if he passed 
close to the man.' Such was the enduring power and 
force of inborn prejudice." 

Notwithstanding these prejudices of his early edu- 
cation, his inherent love of truth and overflowing 
charity prevented anything like bigotry influencing his 
actions. The following instances in his life at Mt. 
Calvary Church will prove the truth of this statement. 
One of his spiritual children brought him a rosary to 
be blessed, saying that it had been given to her by a 
Catholic relative, who had it blessed by the Holy 
Father Pope Pius the IX in a recent visit to Rome. 
*' You say the Pope has blessed it," he replied; '' liis 
blessing is above mine, I cannot put mine over his," and 

69 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

he returned her the rosary. At another time, remon- 
strating with two of his young parishioners who had 
trifled on the subject of religion by engaging a priest 
to enlighten them on the teachings of the Catholic 
Church, and who had procured from him some books 
for the purpose, he said very gravely: " If you are in 
earnest, and believe your present position false, you 
are right to Investigate the truth and obey the voice 
of conscience, but you are entirely wrong to trifle thus 
with a priest of God and holy things. If God is lead- 
ing you into the Roman Catholic Church, follow Him; 
if not, then take back the books and trifle no more 
with so sacred a subject." One of the two receiving 
the fullness of light entered the true fold many years 
later. Yet one more striking instance of the broadness 
of his views he, himself, relates: In his frequent 
visits to the penitentiary he was struck by the effect that 
the Catholic faith had on the prisoners who professed 
It, and pondering within himself, he said: " If a Cath- 
olic priest can have such an Influence over the minds 
of these men, that in obedience to him they refuse to 
listen to any other teacher, he must speak with author- 
ity. What power there must be In that church, and 
whence comes this power? " These reflections made 
so deep and lasting an Impression that in one of his 
visits, coming upon a Catholic prisoner who was in 
danger of death, he went In great haste to procure a 
priest, and this with considerable trouble and incon- 
venience to himself. As the penitentiary was not under 
the jurisdiction of the parish to w^hich he applied, Mr. 
Curtis was directed further, and while somewhat as- 
tonished at such a refusal, he did not desist from pur- 
suing his charitable errand to the end. But to resume 
the touching notes on his seminary life: " Mr. Curtis 
was quite affable, and he seemed never to take amiss 
our freedom In plying him with questions. We were, 
of course, greatly interested In the history of his con- 
version and we questioned him accordingly. Had he 
70 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

ever suspected that he would one day find himself 
amongst us ? He had frequently, indeed, he said, 
passed the Seminary, and the thought had come to 
him, how happy must be the inmates behind those 
walls; but he had never dreamed that he, himself, 
should at any time be numbered amongst them. He 
had been drifting for years, it is true, nearer and 
nearer towards the true fold, but it was all unaware, 
though others claimed to see it, and failed not to utter 
their warning. He believed himself truly an ordained 
priest, and hence did not marry. He spent much time 
studying the early Fathers of the Church, and he saw 
more clearly, as time went on, how their teaching was 
exemplified by our Church in her doctrine and prac- 
tice. He began to use our books: the Missal, the 
Breviary, the Catechism of the Council of Trent. This 
last was the text-book for the preparation of his ser- 
mons. Strange as it may seem, in all this he himself 
perceived no inconsistency at the time, nor had he any 
misgivings until his eyes were finally opened, and that, 
suddenly. 

" Bishop Whittlngham was holding Communion ser- 
vice at Mt. Calvary Church, and the rector, Mr. 
Curtis, while assisting him, made profound reverence 
to the elements of bread and wine. This was observed 
by the Bishop, who, after the service was ended, took 
Mr. Curtis to task privately, assuring him, however, 
that if he acted similarly on a future occasion he would 
feel himself constrained to reprove him openly before 
the assembly In church. The rector revered his eccle- 
siastical superior as a father; he felt himself, more- 
over, under personal obligations to him; he grieved 
much to differ with him on such a momentous matter; 
yet come what would, he could not promise to do other 
than he had, for he believed Christ to be Very God 
and to be truly present under the Eucharistic elements; 
and, hence, standing in His real and awful Presence 
— the creature before his Maker — he could not but 

71 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

worship and adore. The Bishop insisted upon his im- 
perfect view and the teaching of his Church: Christ 
is there to be communicated, not to be adored. The 
rector held, if He is there at all, He must needs also 
be taken note of and adored. Mr. Curtis now, at 
length, felt the ground cut from under him; he must 
be untrue either to his conscience or to his Bishop, and 
the Church he represented. The following Sunday he 
announced to his congregation that he had resigned his 
charge, and that he would look for light and guidance 
outside the Church to which thus far he had been 
submissive." 

The result of this resolution is already made known 
by his visit to England, and through his several letters 
written at the time of his abjuration; therefore, it is 
needless to quote the writer of these notes in this mat- 
ter. But what he says regarding the temptation which 
so suddenly and strongly beset Mr. Curtis while in 
England is too explicit to be omitted. It seems that 
Satan made one last attempt to turn his feet from the 
way of Truth and Life. During his visit to Oxford, 
while standing on a bridge and gazing down upon the 
water, a temptation to despair settled darkly upon his 
soul, and the evil one seemed to whisper, " Why not 
cast yourself down, and so put an end to this anxiety 
and doubt?" Speaking of this moment of terrible trial 
to a friend in after life, he said that it was the sound 
of the beautiful chimes from the neighboring towers 
of Oxford that roused him from this hideous revery. 
It was Sunday, and the bells were ringing the morning 
service, forming a never-to-be-forgotten harmony as he 
stood on the bridge studying the flowing current be- 
neath that wound silently in and out, and over every 
obstacle in its way. Suddenly straightening himself, 
he flung oft the tempter's snare, and passed over the 
bridge with such rapid strides that before he realized 
his speed, he had crossed a ploughed field planted with 
potatoes. Finding himself unexpectedly in the neigh- 

72 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

borhood of a modest little Catholic chapel, where the 
Holy Sacrifice of the Mass was about to be offered, 
Mr. Curtis entered and found peace and calm after the 
tempest. 

To return to the notes of his colleague : '' In his 
changed condition and novel surroundings at the Semi- 
nary, some things undoubtedly must have been very 
trying to our student. After years of active life to 
come in middle age back to school again; to have 
been a long time at the head, and now to hold only a 
subordinate place: to get accustomed to community 
life and all it implies; to be under a strict rule and to 
apply ever and anon to Superiors for trifling permis- 
sions; to render humble services — dusting the chapel, 
waiting upon table, etc., to go on the community walks 
through the streets of the city where you have become 
noted, and where every one is free to point you out or 
stare at you. In one of these walks, passing near Mt. 
Calvary Church, a beautiful little boy of three or four 
summers was playing on the sidewalk. Mr. Curtis 
stooped and picked up the little fellow, imprinted a 
kiss on his forehead, gently set him down again, and 
with a smile remarked to his companions, * I baptized 
him.' What stronger proof could he give of the ten- 
derness of his feeling and the unalterableness of his 
affection, which neither time nor place had changed? 
Mr. Curtis used sometimes to remark that he enjoyed 
the uncommon distinction of having been christened 
no less than three times in his life — as Catholic in his 
mature years, as Episcopalian in his youth, and as 
Methodist in his infancy. Of one or other of the hit- 
ter administrations he himself, it would seem, had little, 
if any, misgivings; but the Cardinal,^ in view of Mr. 
Curtis' intention to prepare for the priesthood, deemed 
it advisable to repeat the Sacrament, at least, sub cou- 
dilione, so as to make assurance doubly sure, and safc- 

* Dr. Newman was created Cardinal b)- Pope Leo XIII in 1879. 

73 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

guard the validity of any ordination that might there- 
after be conferred on so promising a subject." But to 
conclude these notes : " Such was the heroic soul of 
the man, in passing through a life which daily furnished 
him subjects of greater or lesser trials; in the many 
months of my class association with him, I do not re- 
call a single word of complaint from his lips, nor the 
expression of a single adverse criticism. His deep 
piety, profound humility and spirit of faith and self- 
obliteration carried him safely through all difficulties, 
so that peace, serenity of soul and abounding joy 
seemed to be his happy portion from the beginning to 
the close of his term at the Seminary." 

During those two years he seemed to have deeply 
Imbibed the Sulpician spirit of mildness and simplicity, 
and he always spoke with great appreciation of the ec- 
clesiastical formation given by the Fathers to the Semi- 
narians. As the time of his ordination drew near, Mr. 
Curtis wrote to his venerable friend, Dr. Newman, ac- 
quainting him with his approaching happiness, and ask- 
ing for his baptismal certificate, which the Doctor kindly 
sent In his own handwriting, of which a facsimile is 
shown on the opposite page. 

It was by predilection he made choice of Paul for his 
name In baptism, and he was henceforth to model his 
life on this great apostle, walking even more closely 
than ever In his footsteps, so that after his example 
he could say Indeed and in truth, " Be ye imitators 
of me, as I also am of Christ." i Cor. Iv. i6. 

On the 19th of December, 1874, with three of his 
companions, the Revs. A. J. Frederick, J. Cunningham 
and F. Fowler, he received ordination at the hands 
of the Most Reverend James Roosevelt Bayley. The 
first-named of these Fathers Is the only one of the class 
who has outlived the Bishop, and It Is he who has con- 
tributed to this biography the pleasing reminiscences 
of Seminary life. The Most Reverend Archbishop im- 
mediately made Father Curtis one of his household and 

74 






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Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

appointed him his secretary. A convert himself from 
Episcopalianism, and for some time a minister of this 
denomination, he understood and appreciated the 
struggles through which Father Curtis had passed, nor 
did he hide from his newly appointed secretary what it 
had cost him to leave the diocese of Newark. Indeed 
the Archbishop made no effort to conceal the reluctance 
he felt in coming to Baltimore, and for this reason he 
was misunderstood by many of his new flock; few 
penetrated beneath the surface, and consequently did 
not know nor appreciate the wealth of goodness and 
affection hidden under a reserved and cold exterior, 
while his failing health left much of the work of the 
great Archdiocese in the hands of his assistants. 



76 



CHAPTER VI 

1875-1886 

^T^HE newly anointed of the Lord entered upon his 
•*■ appointed field of labor with a spiritual zest spring- 
ing from his magnanimous courage, and strengthened 
by the distinctive graces which the Sacrament of Holy 
Orders confers. The parochial work of the Cathedral 
was very laborious, owing principally to the extent of 
territory it covered, while the failing health of the 
Archbishop added to the burden of the three priests 
who constituted his household — the Reverend Thomas 
S, Lee, Reverend William E. Starr, now Monsignori, 
and Father Curtis. 

Besides the duties of their respective offices, they 
vied with one another in their devotion to the work 
of the confessional, the care of the sick, the direction 
of uneasy and perplexed consciences, the instruction 
of the young and the ignorant, and of those whom God 
sent them for introduction to Catholic truth. The 
harvest indeed was great and the laborers few; never- 
theless, they seemed to multiply themselves in propor- 
tion as the work increased. Father Curtis was made 
assistant rector, and '' his conscientious discharge of 
even the least of his duties was a continual reproach to 
the rest of us," says one of his co-laborers. Their in- 
timate companionship made them recognize the im- 
perfections of one another, and in bringing them to 
light, put to the test the virtue of each. Although 
Father Curtis was so much esteemed, they would occa- 
sionally laugh at what they deemed his peculiarities, 
taxing him with them, and rather enjoying seeing him 
roused; but when his indignation was cooled, he, him- 

77 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

self, was the first to laugh at the provocation. He was 
always ready to retract and apologize after an out- 
burst of his impetuous nature, or when his inability to 
excuse the foolishness of men caused him to deduce 
unfavorable conclusions. " Still with it all," relates 
one, " the beautiful tenderness and compassion which 
were striking features of his character were daily ex- 
emplified. I recall his tireless endeavors in the service 
of the poor, and his unflagging considerateness with 
the perverse and the tiresome. I remember what his 
Lents were, not limited to the bare requirements of the 
Church's law, but putting into rigorous practice what 
her spirit insinuates. He took the words of the Brevi- 
ary as his rule, and gave up all conversation except 
what courtesy and necessity demanded. And we may 
well imagine that when he put so close an embargo 
over his tongue he was not less careful to mortify his 
eyes and his ears, his curiosity and his imagination. 
He was towards the end of his life not much of a reader 
of newspapers; in Lent, not at all." 

The room he occupied was devoid of all heat in 
winter, owing to a defective flue w^hich prevented con- 
nection with the furnace; here he passed all the time 
not devoted to parochial work and the confessional. 
That " he practised what he preached " was evidenced 
by the effect produced on a religious priest who visited 
him In his room. " It was in itself a sermon," he re- 
marked, " so bare of every comfort." 

He arose every morning at four o'clock, made two 
hours' preparation for holy Mass, and was ^' always 
the first to be seen kneeling before the Blessed Sacra- 
ment when the church was opened, while his visit in 
the afternoon was a revelation of absorbed devotion," 
says the same observer. 

Unconsciously to himself he became the very center 
of Innumerable souls whom he drew to God as their 
director, guide and comforter, for his natural gifts, 
as well as his supernatural powers, were hidden in his 

78 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

humility. Nothing was too little, and nothing too 
great in the service of his penitents who flocked in 
crowds to his confessional, where he could be found 
every afternoon of the week, and in the morning after 
his Mass. He devoted all his energies to their inter- 
ests; the old, the feeble, the blind and the troublesome, 
white and colored, all alike were the objects of his care 
and solicitude. Every Saturday afternoon he would 
leave his confessional to lead in a poor old blind man, 
and after hearing his confession and comforting him 
he would conduct him back to his pew. A " lady of 
color," who regularly took up her station on the plat- 
form of his confessional for holy Mass and other 
services, was invited by him to use his velvet cushions, 
to the astonished indignation of one of his '' Philo- 
theas," who had them upholstered for his use alone. 
On hot summer days he would fan his penitents, taking 
care that they got the full benefit of the current of air, 
while unmindful of himself. To the weak he became 
weak, making himself so entirely one with them as to 
give the inward persuasion that he himself had ex- 
perienced the same infirmities. He never went in ad- 
vance of grace, knowing so well how to " wait on the 
Lord," and to allow the Holy Spirit to do His work 
in the soul. He was, notwithstanding, very prompt, 
when the exigency of the case called for it, in urging 
those engaged *' in the race " to " so run " as *' to win 
the prize." To such, after the example of his beloved 
St. Paul, he gave the following counsels : 

" Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ." Romans xlli. 
14. We must put on Christ that we may no longer 
live in ourselves, or of ourselves, but that Christ may 
live in us, operate in us, accomplish His Will in us, so 
that we may say, not in the way the great St. Paul 
said it, but in our little way, " I live, now not I; but 
Christ liveth in me." Gal. ii. 20. 

And again: 

In the Epistle to Timothy ( L vi. 12) we are told " to 

79 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

lay hold on eternal life." We must not wait till death 
to enter Eternity, the door is open now; and let us 
remember what it cost our dear Blessed Lord to open 
it, that it may help us to enter it before it is closed for- 
ever. We must enter Eternity now, and " lay hold of 
eternal life," that is, lay hold of God in our own soul, 
and live there with Him that life that we shall live 
forever. 

His preaching drew crowds to the Cathedral, and 
his appearance in the pulpit was inspiring. His clear, 
penetrating eye and strong sonorous voice called for 
the deepest attention, and the result was a hushed 
silence as the flow of his beautiful language revealed 
the fullness of his heart. Although not possessed of 
any great oratorical power, his strong, vigorous style 
made a deep and lasting impression on his hearers, 
while his impetuous zeal, tempered by his benignant 
love for souls, caused him often to give a good blow 
suited to the occasion. " I have been many times re- 
proached for showing anger in the pulpit," he said, 
*' but I am wholly unconscious of it," so that he knew 
how to " be angry and sin not." 

If to deaden the sense of self-complacency Lacor- 
daire scourged himself before ascending the pulpit, 
Father Curtis did more; he humbled himself, he 
humbled himself to the very depth of his being. As 
the moment approached for him to preach, his head 
was seen to lower and his whole attitude betrayed the 
humility of one sinking into the depths of his nothing- 
ness and unworthiness before the Majesty of God. 
" I could scarcely repress my tears when at the first 
note of the ' Veni, Creator,' sung by the choir, I 
caught a glimpse of him," says one who witnessed it. 
His seven minutes' sermons given at the Gospel of the 
early Mass, Sunday after Sunday, were gems of practi- 
cal spirituality, and are still brilliant in the recollection 
of one who heard him in those days. His visitation 
of the sick was marked with the greatest kindness and 
So 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

gentleness, and these visits were continual. Night and 
day, In season and out of season, he was ever at their 
service, spending himself In comforting and fortifying 
them, and when the Illness was of long duration, or 
the Invalid was convalescing, he would bring sunshine 
Into the home by a certain playful cheerfulness. " He 
was unfailing in his attentions, coming every day dur- 
ing an illness," says one who for years had enjoyed this 
privilege, " and timing his visits so as to say the night 
prayers or some other devotions." A family weighed 
down with sorrow and affliction he surrounded with a 
father's solicitude, visiting them regularly, making it 
a pleasure to join them at the family board, while 
Ingeniously diverting them by his cheerful conversa- 
tion. The following little mementos of those days 
have been carefully preserved by one of the grateful 
survivors : 

This note accompanied a box of bonbons at Christ- 
mas, and the children — so called — were children of 
a larger growth. 

My dear Children: 

When Santa Claus consulted me as to your merits 
during the past year, I told him that on the whole you 
had been reasonably good children, and entitled rather 
to sweets than deserving of switches. And he, being 
a good Catholic and not venturing to differ from a 
priest, has accordingly sent you the sweets, and I hope 
you will enjoy them and will not forget to repay the 
good word I spoke to him for you, by praying for me. 
Yrs. faithfully, 

A. A. Curtis. 

Another with confectionery: 

Be good children and eat your goodies properly. 
Don't mess yourselves up, but use the tongs like little 
women, and when done eating, pray for 

A. A. Curtis. 
8i 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

And yet another: 

My dear Children: 

I fall back upon first principles. I am, you know, 
in a small way, an apostle of first principles. I send 
you, therefore, a box of goodies In remembrance and 
as a token of all sorts of things, too many to be writ- 
ten. The large card, mind, Is for Stannle and " Mont," 
the house dog. And please assure " Mont " that the 
card In no wise reflects upon honest " Tonsil " dogs, 
such as he himself Is; but solely upon dogs setting up 
to be cultured and " fin de slecle." Pray for me, too, 
a little out of common to-morrow. 

Yours faithfully, 

A. A. Curtis. 

On another occasion: 

To speak In a feminine way, the mending " Is just 
perfectly splendid," and the note equals the mending. 
I am more than half disposed to tear the umbrella 
again for the sake of having It still further ornamented. 
I might, but that I don't like to Impose on affection as 
willing as yours. But when I shall have any rents, 
honestly come by, I shall certainly give you a good 
part of my custom, etc., etc. 

Yrs. faithfully, 

A. A. Curtis. 

This humorous strain In his Intercourse with others 
was frequently enlivened by the pleasure he took In 
relating his little experiences, even at the cost of being 
bantered about them. 

In his regular visits to an Infirm maiden lady, ac- 
cording to his usual custom he kept such a good guard 
over his eyes that she was heard to say to her com- 
panion, '' Father Curtis has a well-shaped foot, and 
I think he is a little vain of it, for he Is always looking 

82 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

at It." No one enjoyed better than himself her mis- 
applied appreciation of his modesty. 

His ministrations to the dying were most consoling; 
strengthening their faith and confidence In God, he 
would Impart comfort and hope to the bereaved ones 
surrounding the death-bed, by the beautiful and touch- 
ing prayers he poured forth with so much fervor. One 
soul, entering the " valley of the shadow of death," 
he encouraged to victory In the combat by sending the 
graceful, waving palm he had that day (Palm Sunday) 
carried In procession. To another, to whom he be- 
lieved himself Indebted, he wrote the following mes- 
sage, " My first Mass of Christmas will be offered 
for you." 

In the latter part of his life, when feeling the Infirm- 
ities of age and the fatiguing labors of the missionary 
work which he still pursued, he was Immensely con- 
soled in bringing the grace of the Sacraments to a wan- 
derer, for whose return he had patiently waited and 
perseverlngly prayed for fifteen or twenty years. The 
summons came quickly at last, but In God's Providence 
the Bishop was at hand, and In his ministrations to the 
sufferer — for he paid him several visits before the 
end came — revealed the light of God's countenance 
signed upon him. " The light of Thy countenance, O 
Lord, Is signed upon us." Ps. iv. 8. Turning to his 
wife, the stricken man whispered: "I see Jesus in 
the Bishop's face," while the Bishop on his side was 
lost in admiration on beholding the reverent faith and 
deep humility of him whose whole attitude bespoke 
the presence of his Lord and God. For weeks after- 
wards the holy Bishop spoke of the Impression pro- 
duced upon him on this occasion, and said it was a 
forcible reminder of the strong faith of St. Peter, 
who, on seeing the miraculous draught of fishes, ex- 
claimed in his deep humility, " Depart from me, for 
I am a sinful man, O Lord." Luke v. 8. If the 
'* light " in his countenance brought God to the soul, 

83 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

his burning words of zeal and charity were not less 
powerful, and the miracles of grace he worked in the 
souls of those who heard him would fill a volume. The 
following extract, taken from a sermon, made a deep 
and lasting impression on one of his hearers, who 
repeatedly referred to it and who fervently prayed 
that these consoling words of the holy Bishop 
might be known to all poor sinners throughout the 
world. 

" This Man receiveth sinners." Luke xv. 2. " The 
Jews said this to our Blessed Lord as a reproach. Yes, 
this Man receiveth sinners. He not only receiveth 
sinners, but He will come to the sinner; the vilest, the 
most wicked, the most abject, the most abandoned has 
only to call upon Him, to desire Him, to long for Him, 
to believe in Him, to hope in Him, and this Man who 
receiveth sinners will come to him; even one sigh, one 
desire for forgiveness will make Him come instanta- 
neously to the aid of the most abandoned sinner on his 
death-bed." 

Three days after this sermon was given, the one who 
had been so deeply impressed was suddenly confronted 
with death, and being wholly unconscious, there was 
time only for the final absolution. Although not an 
abandoned sinner, it was most comforting to those who 
surrounded that death-bed to recall the fervent desires 
which the Bishop's consoling words had inspired. 

But to return to his labors at the Cathedral: Father 
Curtis took especial interest in the children of the 
parish, catechising and instructing them for an hour 
every Saturday morning, when he could be seen listen- 
ing in the liveliest manner to their simple questions and 
answers. He was passionately fond of little children, 
and when the pattering of their tiny feet was heard on 
the stone floor of the great Cathedral he would leave his 
place to go after them, take them up in his arms, caress 
and even kiss them. 

One afternoon a little " tot " of four or five years 

84 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

running up a side aisle of the church, with her head 
thrown back, caught sight of the window in the great 
central dome, where the Eternal Father is represented 
as a venerable old man, bending over the world; the 
little one clapped her hands and cried aloud, " O Santa 
Claus ! Santa Claus ! " This proved irresistible to the 
loving heart of the good priest, who, snatching her up 
in his arms, and placing her on the back of a pew, be- 
gan smiling and talking to her of the great " Santa " or 
Father of us all. " I know not," he once said, " what 
the world would do if it were not for the old people and 
the little children," and it was in his dealings with them 
that he revealed the charming simplicity of his noble 
character. 

He knew how to bend down to the little and the 
lowly, and to accommodate himself to their ways, 
while his great deference and respect for Superiors ap- 
peared in the admirable humility with which he seemed 
even to efface himself that they might appear, and this 
he did in so gracious and affable a manner as to attract 
the admiration of all who witnessed it. 

The Archbishop and his three assistants were greatly 
attached to one another, and they made a very con- 
genial household, so that when the untimely death of 
Archbishop Bayley came, only two years later, they 
were all but inconsolable in their loss, and as one of 
them remarked: " We never quite got over it." This 
was the first great cross of separation for Father Curtis 
after becoming a Catholic, and he deeply lamented one 
who understood him so well, and to whom he felt him- 
self bound by strong ties of sympathy and affection. 
Their characters were strikingly alike, and '' it was 
necessary to have an intimate knowledge of both men, 
in order to overlook their seeming peculiarities, and to 
esteem their just worth," says one who knew them well. 
This was the happy portion of those who had learned to 
lookup to, and lean upon their guidance, for tJiey could 
not regard as peculiarities actions performed froiii a 

8s 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

sense of honor and uprightness of intention, even at the 
cost of disfavor and criticism. 

Father Curtis revered the memory of his first Supe- 
rior in the Catholic Church with undiminished affection 
and respect to the last days of his life. For years after 
the Archbishop's death, in his daily walks he carried 
the cane which his Grace had used and given him, 
as a souvenir of the friendship which existed between 
them. 

In 1877 the Right Reverend James Gibbons of Rich- 
mond, our illustrious Cardinal, succeeded to the Archl- 
episcopal See, and to him Father Curtis now gave his 
allegiance, remaining his obedient servant until death. 
In the spring of 1881 he had the inexpressible sorrow 
of parting with his mother, who passed peacefully away 
on the 23d of May, after an illness of several weeks. 
He had hoped against hope to see his beloved mother 
die a member of the true Church, and in his great disap- 
pointment he could be reconciled only when assured of 
her good faith by a friend in the priesthood, who fre- 
quently visited her during this illness. The intensity of 
his grief was manifested not only in private, but in pub- 
lic also. Seated in the confessional, and giving comfort 
to others, the tears flowed down his cheeks, revealing 
the depth of his sorrow; and in the evening devotions 
of the month of May, which he attended most faith- 
fully, he was seen silently weeping. 

Cardinal Newman says in his article on " Religious 
Parties " : " You cannot make others think as you will, 
even those who are nearest and dearest to you," and 
like this great man. Father Curtis had to suffer the 
want of sympathy on the part of those nearest and 
dearest to him, even until death. He remarked at one 
time that he felt confident that had his father ever met 
a Catholic priest he would have entered the true fold; 
doubtless he meant that his father's great mind and 
broad views would have made him amenable to the 
teachings of Holy Church, and, consequently, had he 
86 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

ever come in contact with a priest, he would have In- 
vestigated the truth and embraced it. 

In the declining years of his life, however. Bishop 
Curtis had the consolation of hearing of the admission 
to the true fold of his long lost brother, who, dying far 
away from home, had the happiness of securing his sal- 
vation. In a letter written about that time the Bishop 
said: "Forty years or more ago my only brother 
quitted us all to take up his abode in Montana; he 
never did anything for us, and would not even write 
to us. Early this year I got a letter from one, a total 
stranger to me, informing me that he, my brother, 
was in a certain town of Montana, quite ill and entirely 
without money, and that he must go to the poorhouse 
unless I could otherwise provide for him. I wrote to 
Bishop Blondel, since dead, and got entrance for him 
into St. John's Hospital, Helena, where he has been 
ever since, and is likely to stay as long as he lives, 
which cannot now be very long. ... I am glad to 
say that he has been baptized since he went to the hos- 
pital." Later, for his brother lingered some months, 
the Bishop heard that he had received all the privileges 
and rites of a true member of Holy Church. 

To the great Mother of God, for whom he enter- 
tained a peculiarly touching devotion. Father Curtis 
must have turned most confidingly in the overwhelm- 
ing sorrow, caused by the loss of his beloved mother. 
In Her, the " Comforter of the Afflicted," he surely 
found that solace which all true devoted sons of 
Mary experience when under the pressure of the 
Cross. 

It was through his marked devotion to the Blessed 
Virgin that he organized a Sodality at the Cathedral. 
There each week, on Friday evening, he led the devo- 
tions, manual in hand, uniting his voice in singing the 
English hymns with the assembled multitude. The 
evening chosen was not without a purpose in the mind 
of the pious director, for, he said, in naming the 

87 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis. D.D. 

day, *' we may at least lessen the number at the theatre 
on Friday night by paying devotion to the Mother of 
God instead." 

About this time a rather novel and interesting meet- 
ing took place between the two future bishops of Wil- 
mington. It was a lovely afternoon in the month of 
June when Father Curtis, according to his weekly cus- 
tom, wended his way to St. Mary's Seminary. He 
was told at his entrance that the Feathers had gone 
with the students for a walk, but that there was a young 
priest in room No. — who w^ould doubtless hear 
his confession. After this sacred duty was accom- 
plished, the following conversation took place between 
confessor and penitent: "And who are you?" asked 
Father Curtis, with his genial simplicity. " I am 
Father Monaghan of South Carolina," answered the 
smiling confessor, who was twenty-five years his junior, 
" and I am here collecting for a church, I am trying 
to build In Spartanburg." " Well," was the answer, 
"I haven't anything much with me; let me see," — 
and putting his hand in his pocket, Father Curtis drew 
forth a five-dollar bill, saying, " Take this. Father, 
it may be of some help to your project." Both were 
in the early years of their priesthood, and were des- 
tined to succeed each other in building many churches 
for the glory of God, and in laboring for the salvation 
of souls In the same Episcopal See. 

The three weeks' vacation allowed the clergy of 
the Archdiocese was taken advantage of by Father 
Curtis to get away from the crowded city, to lose sight 
of the newspapers and his mail for a time, by taking 
to the woods, or, preferably, to the water, where, lay- 
ing aside all formality, he could Indulge in his favorite 
pastimes of boating and fishing. 

From boyhood he was a good fisherman and an 

expert yachtsman, and often ventured out In the bay 

by himself in a little yawl where few would dare to go, 

and now In these summer outings he chose a compan- 

8S 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

ion who, like himself, was a good sailor and willing 
to rough it. 

Providing themselves with a small sailboat, in 
which they stored the necessaries for saying holy 
Mass, some hard-tack, and other dried provisions 
for a three weeks' cruise, they sailed to the mouth of 
the Chesapeake Bay, a distance of some two hundred 
miles. He and his companion, an aspirant to the priest- 
hood, were good swimmers and did not mind risking 
a heavy blow, while the element of danger lent zest 
to the adventurous sport and caused the old boatmen 
to shake their heads and express surprise that those 
daring sailors were not drowned. 

Towards evening, when twilight settled on the sea 
and the day's toil was at an end, they found some little 
cove or quiet nook where, pitching their tent, they 
made their bed on the ground, with an armful of pine 
branches. Several times their frail little craft capsized, 
or stranded on an unknown bar; but after a good 
ducking they recovered themselves, and securing their 
skiff, feared not to hazard further dangers. 

On one occasion they made an attempt to shoot the 
rapids of the French Broad River from Asheville to 
Hot Springs, North Carolina, but failing to accom- 
plish this exploit, nothing daunted, they determined 
to conquer, as indeed they did, the following year. 
The river runs In a strong current among the rocks, and 
it Is only necessary to float in a dugout and avoid 
the rocks by using an iron-pointed pole. There are 
several narrow passages through which the whole river 
plunges, and the boat was swamped in one of these, 
after having successfully jumped a rather formidable 
waterfall. Shoes, stockings and many other articles 
were lost, and the last ten miles of the journey had to 
be made over a hot and dusty road. Clothed in knee 
breeches and rough flannel shirts, their limbs burned 
and blistered by the blazing sun, these intrepid sea- 
men, with sails lowered, and looking like tramps, made 

89 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

their way through the town to the main hotel, where 
their baggage, which they had shipped ahead, awaited 
them. 

There was nothing striking in the cut of their gar- 
ments, and while the guests of the hotel wondered at 
their novel appearance, none suspected that such a for- 
lorn pair of travellers could be bent upon pleasure. 

In 1883 Father Curtis accompanied Archbishop Gib- 
bons to Rome, and while nothing remains to tell of the 
impressions made by this visit to the Eternal City, it 
may be readily imagined that it played an important 
part in the life of this holy ecclesiastic. He once re- 
marked that his only desire in going abroad was to 
see St. Peter's, and to have an audience with the Holy 
Father. Undoubtedly this visit served to increase his 
love for that supreme authority, vested in the Vicar 
of Christ, and strengthened the bonds uniting him to 
holy Mother Church. In the fall of the following 
year the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore was con- 
vened, in which Father Curtis acted as theologian and 
secretary to the Most Rev. Archbishop Seghers, a 
zealous and holy prelate, who afterwards sacrificed 
his life when serving the Indian missions of Alaska. 

He was much beloved and greatly revered by his 
companions In the same field of labor, who styled him 
" the St. Francis de Sales of the United States," on 
account of his great meekness and condescension, com- 
bined with his priestly zeal and episcopal dignity. 
Father Curtis was much attracted by his amiable qual- 
ities of mind and heart, and spoke most feelingly of 
him, upon hearing the sad and untimely death of this 
self-sacrificing apostle, who fell a victim to an assas- 
sin's bullet, having been shot by his guide on their 
journey to Alaska. 

This occurred on the 28th day of November, In 

the year 1886, at the very time the burden of the 

episcopacy was laid upon the shoulders of Father 

Curtis, and naturally produced a sad Impression on 

90 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

one already weighed down by the thought of the new 
and unlooked for responsibility imposed upon him. He 
was ever averse to any office bearing in its train dig- 
nities and honors, for the deep humility of his soul 
filled him with distrust of self, and he was heard to 
say, *' I care not how many I have over me, provided 
I have no one under me." 

When he received the news of his elevation to the 
Episcopal dignity, with characteristic humility he made 
a threefold appeal to escape the responsibility, repre- 
senting to his superiors the consciousness he felt of his 
inability to hold the office, but when his objections 
were gently but firmly overruled, with that ingenuous 
frankness which was one of the guiding principles of 
his life, he said, " I promised my Mother, Holy 
Church, when entering her fold, ever to be her obedi- 
ent son, and now at the call of duty in her service, I 
must submit; although I feel that Almighty God will 
not compel me to carry this heavy burden more than 
ten years." Was this a prophecy, or could he have 
known by some secret intuition that in a decade of 
years his words would be verified? Whether a proph- 
ecy or not, the sequel proved the correctness of his 
statement, for after ten years of arduous labor his 
health was so Impaired that he found himself unequal 
to the work, and making application to the Holy See, 
was relieved of his charge. These ten years were to 
be, perhaps, the most strenuous of his whole life, for 
during this time he was to give full scope to his apos- 
tolic zeal and unbounded spirit of self-sacrifice in the 
labors of a struggling diocese. 

He was accustomed to take the heaviest part of the 
burden upon himself, choosing always that which was 
most humble, obscure and laborious, and when urged 
to ask the assistance of others, he replied, " I never 
exact of my priests that which I find too hard for 
myself." 

He was justly styled " The Ideal Champion of the 

91 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

Missionary Life," while his predecessor, the Rt. Rev. 
Thomas A. Becker, bore the title of '' Pioneer Bishop 
and Staunch Defender of Higher Education," to which 
the beautiful bronze tablets erected to their memory in 
St. Peter's Cathedral of Wilmington bear testimony. 

These handsome memorials of the first bishops of 
Wilmington were placed in the Cathedral and bear the 
following inscription: 

*' Erected in Saint Peter's Cathedral on July 4, 1909, by the 
gracious generosity of the Bishop, Clerg>' and Laity of the 
Diocese of Wilmington, to the sacred memory of the Most 
Illustrious and Most Revered Bishops 

Becker and Curtis. 

" Though dead yet do they speak." 



92 



CHAPTER VII 

1886 

IF Delaware on account of Its size Is named the 
" Diamond State," ^ having been formed out of the 
three lower counties of Pennsylvania, what honor and 
glory are due to the rugged pioneers of Catholicity in 
those parts, whose spirit of faith and self-sacrifice 
helped to smooth and polish that diamond, which with 
the growth of civilizaton, education and religion would 
dazzle future generations by the beauty of Its lustre 
and the solidity of its setting? But their labors were 
not confined to this narrow territory, for they extended 
throughout Maryland, and over a good portion of the 
State of Pennsylvania. 

Notably among these missionaries were the Jesuits 
of Bohemia In Cecil County, Maryland, who In the 
year 1772 purchased the ground in Delaware, on which 
they built a little log chapel near Coffee Run, just 
six miles from Wilmington, the remains of which were 
standing until recently, serving as a relic of early Cath- 
olicity In Delaware. 

The first pastor of this little church was the Rev- 
erend Patrick Kenny, who had, besides, five other sta- 
tions, or missions. Included in three counties and two 
states, and one of these stations was Wilmington, 
which was usually attended monthly. His successors 
were the Reverend George A. Carrell, the Very Rever- 
end P. Rellly, and others who have left a glorious ex- 
ample of disinterested zeal and magnanimous courage 
in embracing the hardships, fatigues and troubles in- 

* Delaware is affectionately called by its people the ''Diamond State," 
to signify that it has great value in a small compass. 

93 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

separable from the labor of breaking the soil of a new 
and rough country. 

This spirit has been bequeathed by these generous 
missionaries, as a rich Inheritance, so that when in the 
year 1868 a diocese was created, separating Delaware 
from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, to which It had 
hitherto been subject, and adding to It the counties of 
the eastern shores of Maryland and Virginia, it still 
retained Its missionary character. The Wilmington 
diocese Is known as the " Delmarvia Peninsula," so 
called after the three states which contribute to Its for- 
mation — the whole of Delaware, nine counties of 
Maryland, and two counties of Virginia, east of the 
Chesapeake Bay. 

" Its first Bishop was the Right Reverend Thomas A. 
Becker, D.D., whose Indomitable will and unbounded 
zeal fitted him to cope with the difficulties of a new 
and only half cultivated field. He was a man of bril- 
liant talents and great scholarly attainments, with an 
unusual facility for acquiring languages. He spoke 
several of the modern languages fluently, was a mas- 
ter of Greek and Latin and had some knowledge of 
Irish, Sanskrit, Syrian, Chaldaic and Hebrew. Before 
his conversion to the Faith he had studied with much 
success In the University of Virginia, and after his 
reception into the Church, and some preliminary train- 
ing given by his life-long friend, Father Plunkett of 
Martinsburg, West Virginia, he was sent to Rome by 
Bishop McGIll, where he distinguished himself among 
a galaxy of other intellectual giants, who like himself 
became eminent as theologians, and were elevated to 
the highest dignities in the Church. 

It is no matter for surprise that a Bishop of such 
gifts, to which were united much piety and fervent un- 
compromising faith, should be fully equipped, to face 
all obstacles and trials, and ready to spend himself 
for the glory of God and the good of souls." ^ 

^ Dedication Souvenir of St. Peter's Cathedral, Wilmington, Del. 

94 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

The administration of Bishop Becker, continued 
for eighteen years, during which time the diocese be- 
came soHdly established, only, however, at the cost 
of untold sacrifices and indescribable labors ; yet Divine 
Providence had other and even more arduous and self- 
sacrificing work in store for the zealous Bishop. In 
the spring of 1886 he was asked by His Eminence, 
Cardinal Gibbons, if he would be willing to accept the 
administration of the Savannah diocese, which had 
become vacant through the promotion of the Rt. Rev. 
William H. Gross, to the Archiepiscopal See of Oregon 
City. Upon his generous consent, he was transferred 
to the government of this See of such vast area, but 
with as scant resources as little Wilmington, which he 
had so successfully pioneered to a condition of self- 
dependence and progress. 

His successor, the Right Reverend Alfred A. Curtis, 
called the diocese of Wilmington his " Wilderness," 
and so it was, being still in many places, " a diamond 
in the rough." On one occasion in a conversation with 
some friends, the poverty of the diocese, the scarcity 
of priests, and the extra labor imposed upon the Bishop 
being remarked, he replied with great feeling: " My 
labors and trials are nothing when compared with those 
of my good predecessor. He laid the foundation and 
paved the way for me, he did the hard work, and when 
I think of the extreme poverty of the diocese as he 
found it, without churches, without priests, without 
money, I marvel how he accomplished what he did. 
All that has been done Is his work, not mine." 

If for eighteen years Bishop Becker tilled the rugged 
soil of this poor diocese. It was his holy successor, 
Bishop Curtis, who watered It with the sweat of his 
brow, while under the government of Its present Bishop, 
the Right Reverend John J. Monaghan, God has 
given the increase, this pious Prelate having chosen for 
his motto: " Deus incrementum dat." 

Six months after the transfer of the Right Reverend 

95 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

Thomas A. Becker to the diocese of Savannah, the 
consecration of the Right Reverend Alfred A. Curtis 
took place in the Cathedral of Baltimore. The 14th 
of November was the day chosen for the solemnity, 
which happily coincided that year with the feast of the 
Patronage of the Blessed Virgin Mary, under whose 
auspices this great missionary Bishop was to begin 
his labors. The morning dawned bright and beautiful, 
and the great doors of the Cathedral were thrown 
open at an early hour to admit the immense concourse 
of people who thronged to the brilliant consecration 
ceremonies. Besides the innumerable friends of the 
Bishop Elect and a few relatives, there were five hun- 
dred persons from the See of Wilmington, who had 
made the journey for the purpose of witnessing the con- 
secration of their new Bishop. A daily journal ^ of 
that city gives the following details of the great event: 

"The ceremonies were grand and most impressive, the 
consecrator being Cardinal Gibbons, assisted by Bishop 
Kain of Wheeling and Bishop Moore of St. Augustine, 
Florida. There were present also Bishop Chatard of 
Vincennes, Bishop Becker of Savannah, Monsignor 
McColgan, eighty clergymen, two hundred students 
from St. Mary's Seminary, and a vast congregation. 

" The participants and attendants formed in proces- 
sional order at the Cardinal's residence, and walked 
slowly around the southern side of the property into 
the Cathedral through the main entrance. Censer- 
bearers led the way, followed by sanctuary boys In 
white surplices and black cassocks. The clergy, Mon- 
signor McColgan, Bishops Chatard, Kain, Moore and 
Bishop Elect Curtis came next, preceding the Cardinal, 
who wore the imposing insignia of his rank. Including 
the Cappa Magna. His long train was carried by four 
little boys in white surplices and red cassocks. 

" When the Cardinal entered the Church the choir of 
fifty or more voices sang with grand effect, ' Ecce Sacer- 

* Morning Journal. 

96 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

dos Magnus.' Passing through the sanctuary gate, 
the seminarians went to the right and left of the main 
Altar and occupied seats in the recesses. The clergy- 
were seated along the sanctuary rail, and on chairs in 
the cross aisle facing the Altar. Bishop Elect Curtis 
with Bishops Kain and Moore, took positions in front 
of the small Altar on the south side, and the Cardinal 
sat upon his throne to the north of the main Altar, with 
the Reverend Dr. Magnien and Reverend M. Walters, 
deacons of honor, seated either side. 

" A good number of the Clergy from Wilmington 
were in attendance, showing by their presence the desire 
they had to honor and welcome to the diocese their 
new Superior, to whom on this day they pledged their 
allegiance. 

" When all were seated the spectacle thus formed 
was brilliant and imposing, the center of the scene being 
the resplendent main Altar, with its polished marbles, 
burnished ornaments of brass and silver, hundreds of 
lighted candles, and artistic decorations of smilax, 
chrysanthemums and growing plants. To the north 
and south were the lesser Altars, the prelates, clergy- 
men, seminarians and sanctuary boys, while in the 
foreground of the vast Cathedral were the people, so 
numerous that ever}^ pew was crowded and all the aisles 
filled. Only pew-holders and invited guests were ad- 
mitted before the procession took place, but after the 
Cardinal reached his throne the barriers were removed, 
and in a few minutes thereafter this throng extended 
from the aisles out into the street. 

" The Ceremony of Consecration was long and sol- 
emn, embracing the anointing of the head and hands, 
the blessing of the crosier, which is the staff of the pas- 
toral office, the ring, mitre and other sacred insignia; 
after which the new Bishop was led to the episcopal 
chair, to signify that henceforth he holds the office of 
judge and ruler. 

" At the Gospel of the Mass the pulpit was mo\cd 

97 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

to the front of the Altar, and the Right Reverend 
Thomas A. Becker of Savannah ascended and preached 
the sermon. He began by reading the text from 
Matthew xxviii, i6th to 20th verses, inclusive, as 
follows : 

" And the eleven disciples went into Galilee, unto the Moun- 
tain where Jesus had appointed them. 

"And seeing Him they adored: but some doubted. 

"And Jesus, coming, spoke to them, saying: All power is 
given to Me in Heaven and in earth. 

"Going, therefore teach ye all nations: baptizing them in 
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. 
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have com- 
manded you: and behold I am with you all days, even to the 
consummation of the world." 

"The Bishop began by saying that Jesus Christ claimed, 
and had proven His claim to all power. Having the 
power, He transferred it through St. Peter and his 
successors to the Church. His mission is not only all- 
powerful, but perpetual, and ample provision had been 
made for the continuance of this work, in which He 
promises His perpetual presence. An eternal com- 
mission like this requires eternal existence. The Cath- 
olic Church alone can show a direct succession from 
Leo XIII, tracing backward to St. Peter, embracing 
some two hundred and thirty pontiffs. Her genea- 
logical pedigree Is direct, clear, concise. She has a 
more perfect succession than even this favored repub- 
lic of ours, in those who have at least been acknowl- 
edged In Its succession. When we see the serried col- 
umns of twenty general Councils march before us, and 
note how rapidly the Church has spread over the 
world. It Is evident that however small It may have 
been In the beginning. It was breathed upon by the 
divine power and has ever since grown In majesty, . . . 
" In matchless purity It still continues, for It has an 
immortal life. The Catholic Church has also been the 
guardian and preserver of all that has been handed 
down to us of what was precious, In the literature of 

98 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

the world — the literature of pagan Greece and 
pagan Rome — and most precious of all, the manu- 
script of the Scriptures. The Apostolic succession is 
a perpetual continuance by the order of Jesus Christ. 
The Roman Pontiff is the direct successor of St. Peter, 
and has by divine right the Apostolic Jurisdiction. 
The Bishop then went on to state the work that had 
been done by the prelates of the province in selecting 
worthy names to be sent to the Sovereign Pontiff. He 
said: From among them, one has been selected; one 
who is near and dear to you. Never can a calling and 
avocation be more firmly assured, than when to the 
divine vocation which drew him to the dedication of 
himself to the service of his Master, is added the man- 
date of the Vicar of Christ, the visible head of the 
Church. 

" In conclusion Bishop Becker spoke highly of the 
good report given the new Bishop, by those among 
whom he had labored. ' He has worked both in sea- 
son and out of season, and with gifts innumerable; his 
talents are devoted to the service of his Master. You 
may be sure his consecration is from on high'; and, 
then addressing himself directly to the newly conse- 
crated, the Bishop said: Go, feed the flock which has 
been entrusted to your care. I know well that your 
modesty would ask me to keep a gracious silence, but 
I cannot forget to say why you are raised to this high 
dignity. Placed in the peculiar position of addressing 
my successor, I ask in the first place most earnestly the 
benefit of your prayers. May the shortcomings of your 
predecessor find ample correction in your zeal, earnest- 
ness and judgment. Go, teach and preach and per- 
form the works of the apostle. Your sheep only ask 
to know your will in order to perform it. The people 
to whom you are sent are generous and well-disposed, 
and even those who are not of the household of the 
faith are generous and open-hearted, and without big- 
otry or ill-will. 

99 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

" May the peace of God remain with you, the com- 
munication of the Holy Ghost accompany all your 
labors and bless them, that you with your flock 
may be found at the right hand of the Father when 
Christ shall say, ' Come ye blessed of My Father, 
possess the kingdom prepared for you from the founda- 
tion of the world.' " 

After Mass the newly consecrated was attended 
along the main aisle of the church, by the assisting 
Bishops, giving his blessing to the congregation as he 
passed. Then the procession reformed, and wended 
its way back to the Cardinal's residence, while the 
congregation repaired to the sacristy where the beau- 
tiful episcopal gifts were displayed. They included 
four costly rings, three of which had unusually fine 
stones, surrounded by diamonds of the first water; the 
fourth was a remarkable Egyptian seal. In addition 
to these was a magnificent gold cross set with diamonds, 
representing a halo, the gold chain from which the 
cross was suspended being heavy and elegant. There 
were besides a jewelled mitre, two crosiers set with 
brilliants, laces, embroidered slippers, Bibles, Breviary, 
Missal, gold and silver candlesticks and many other 
beautiful gifts. 

In the evening the Bishop sang Pontifical Vespers, 
after which a number of his friends called to offer 
congratulations. 

On the following Sunday, November 21, Bishop 
Curtis was installed in St. Peter's Cathedral at Wil- 
mington by Cardinal Gibbons, assisted by Archbishop 
Ryan of Philadelphia, Bishop Moore of Florida and 
Bishop Becker of Savannah. The Cardinal preached 
the sermon, at the conclusion of which he delivered 
a glowing eulogium on the great learning, piety and 
zeal, combined with extraordinary humility and meek- 
ness of his former secretary, *' whom none knew but 
to love, and to love all the more, the better he was 
known." 

100 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

In the course of a conversation after the ceremony 
His Eminence spoke of the esteem In which Bishop 
Curtis was held by the people of Baltimore, how all 
parted from him with deepest regret, adding that he, 
himself, could only become reconciled to this loss by 
the knowledge that he would have a larger field In 
which to display his extraordinary learning and virtue. 

Bishop Curtis had now reached the full prime of his 
vigorous manhood, and was of a magnificent physique 
and commanding appearance, with a certain dignity 
and gravity of bearing which Inspired reverence, even 
something akin to fear; that fear, however, which en- 
genders respect, and makes Impossible any undue fa- 
miliarity. His benevolent countenance mirrored the 
peace and serenity of his well-ordered soul; for the 
unceasing warfare he maintained In his Interior, un- 
known to others, was the secret of that gentle and be- 
nignant charity which showed Itself on every occasion. 

If as a holy contemplative says, " for every act of 
self-suppression God gives an action of His own," 
what abundant graces must have fallen upon this soul, 
who possessed the land of his heart, by a meekness for 
which he had ever to strive; thus acquiring that 
strength of virtue which was to Influence so many com- 
ing in contact with him, or living under his direction. 



lOI 



CHAPTER VIII 

1886-1888 

npHE first care of the newly consecrated Bishop was 
-^ to regulate his household, choosing from among 
the clergy those whom he thought best fitted to compose 
it, and to work with him in advancing the interests of 
the flock committed to his guidance. After mature 
consideration he concluded to adopt the plan of pro- 
moting the pastors of the country districts to the city 
parishes, choosing them according to seniority; this 
plan he admitted had its drawback, but on the whole 
presented the fewest diflliculties. It was his purpose, 
likewise, to have only willing workers in his diocese, 
and as soon as circumstances would permit, to allow 
any priest, who would so desire, to transfer his alle- 
giance to any other Bishop who would be willing to 
accept his services, for he would force no one to change 
his work. 

" When summoned to give up a pastorate in a coun- 
try district, to which I was much attached," says one 
of the older priests of the diocese, " my first thought, 
which later became a fixed determination, was to de- 
cline the honor; five minutes' conversation with the 
Bishop compelled me to surrender completely, and 
from that day I have thanked God, and will forever 
praise Him for the incomparable blessing bestowed 
upon me, in being permitted to live under the same 
roof, and enjoy an intimate intercourse with this holy 
servant of God, and that for the space of eleven 
years. The impression made upon me in this first 
interview," he continues, " never left my mind and 
102 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

heart, but rather quickened admiration and affection as 
the years passed away. His frankness and simplicity, 
his earnestness and zeal, together with his paternal 
tenderness, took possession of all who constituted his 
household. I had no sooner taken up my residence 
with him, when he entrusted to me the whole manage- 
ment of Church and house, saying in his great humil- 
ity, that he had never attended to such duties, and that 
he possessed no aptitude for them; moreover, if he 
had an especial vocation it was to serve the wanderers 
of the poor country districts who were in greater need, 
and as this would necessitate his being absent a long 
time, he wished me to concern myself particularly in 
looking after the interests of the city clergy and people. 
This, however, did not prevent him from being pres- 
ent and officiating Pontifically In his Cathedral at all 
the important Festivals, when he generally preached his 
original, direct and practical sermons, very carefully 
thought out as a rule, but never memorized, because 
his soul was an overflowing fountain of salutary waters 
of divine grace and human erudition. 

'' In these discourses, as in every other relation of 
life, he was averse to all display, and whatever degree 
of Intellectuality and scholarship he possessed, and 
these were of no mean order, he was always very 
modest and unassuming. Although he had never 
passed through the training and discipline of a College 
or University Course, and had been given but two 
short years of the Seminary Curriculum, which was 
at times painfully manifest, he nevertheless always ap- 
peared equal to every emergency, whether In the pulpit 
or rostrum, whether addressing Bishops, Priests, Semi- 
narians or Religious bodies, learned Judges and Law- 
yers or professional Scientists." 

He seemed to have read everything and to have re- 
tained what he read, his memory being rarely at fault, 
so that he was at home in all questions that came up 
in every branch of literature, and likewise had made 
103 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

himself familiar with all the Greek and Latin Fathers, 
as well as the Scriptures which he seemed to know^ by 
heart, reading every day a chapter in Hebrew. Whilst 
a priest he had read most carefully the works of St. 
Thomas e\'en seven times over, and every day a ser- 
mon of Bossuct, besides having absorbed the works 
of standard ascetics, just as he had very early in 
life devoured the English poets and Blackstone's 
Commentaries. 

His *' Vade Mecum " was St. Bernard and his 
ideals St. Paul and his Divine Master, Whom he 
ever strove to imitate, so that while drawing others 
to walk in the same path, he seemed to say by word 
and example, " Be ye followers of me, as I also am of 
Christ." I Cor. iv. i6. 

The Bishop could be, when he chose, a clever dis- 
putant, but he rarely argued, especially with the oppo- 
nents of our faith, for he was convinced that the best 
way to reach the understanding Is through the heart, 
hence he discouraged controversial preaching in his 
clergy, enjoining upon them in order to make converts, 
to preach plain, practical sermons, as if all present 
w^ere Catholic, and to make their own people faithful 
and devout members of the Church, adding, " Verba 
movent — exempla trahunt." 

During the Lenten Season he invariably preached 
the full course of sermons, likewise the " Three Hours' 
Prayer " on Good Friday, in addition to sermons at 
the morning and evening services, and besides these a 
*' ferverino " on the other nights of Holy Week, and 
In the morning and evening of Easter Sunday. 

Although his labors at home and throughout the 
diocese were more exacting and Incessant during the 
penitential season, he nevertheless maintained the strict 
olden time black fast, taking no meat from the begin- 
ning of Lent until Easter and denying himself the use 
of milk, butter and eggs, allowed by holy Church, and 
yet he naively declared, " He had not fasted since he 
104 



&/4/^:yri4 .^W^y/^ f/y///^/////^^(^^/. 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

became a Catholic." As a Protestant he allowed 
neither food nor drink to pass his lips throughout the 
whole season of Lent, until the meal taken at sundown, 
having been taught according to his own words, " it 
is only Christian to fast," but as a Catholic it seemed 
to him he did not fast at all, so light and easy is that 
done through obedience, when compared with what is 
done by one's own will, " When the Bridegroom is 
present there is no fast." 

At the midday meal the Bishop used nothing but 
vegetables, fruits and jams, which he invariably mixed 
together to make the most uninviting and unpalatable 
repast, and in the evening he took a small portion of 
fruit and a cup of tea with a biscuit or two, occasion- 
ally. He must have used the discipline unsparingly, 
one having been found in his room, which he evidently 
forgot to hide, armed with steel prongs, and much 
stained with blood. He also wore a hair shirt and 
heavy chains which caused him at times to walk with 
difficulty. 

It was his custom to retire to his room a little after 
nine o'clock in the evening, and he was the first of the 
household to rise in the morning, being up as early as 
half-past four, and after making two full hours of 
preparation, celebrated holy Mass at eight o'clock, 
assisting at three and sometimes four Masses besides. 

Several times when the clergy of his household were 
called in the night or the early hours of the morning 
to visit the sick or to assist the dying, they found the 
Bishop prostrated in the middle aisle of the Church, 
face downwards. There in the silence of the night 
and the solitude of the Sanctuary, he kept his vigil 
with the Prisoner of Love, and poured forth his 
soul for the needs of his diocese, knowing full well 
" that no weapon pierces the heart of God like earnest, 
humble prayer." 

He had his trials from the very outset of his Ad- 
ministration, but he knew how to bear them alone, 
105 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

never permitting others to be afflicted by them, for 
he could not endure to give the least pain to any one. 
His strong irascible nature was often roused by the 
force of contending circumstances, but almost instantly 
quelled by the energy of his vigorous ascetic life, so 
that it could be said of him as of the gentle but firm 
St. Francis de Sales, "he had passions — violent pas- 
sions — but he had them only to put them to death." 

Although the most charitable of men, he was heard 
to say openly in a sermon that there was no sin for 
which he chastised himself more severely than for 
uncharitableness. " There are times," he would say, 
" when we cannot help having uncharitable thoughts, 
but it is always in our power to refrain from expressing 
them." With what fidelity he reproduced this virtue 
traced by his divine Model is seen in the unselfish sacri- 
fice of himself in the service of his neighbor. 

One out of many instances may be related here. 
With inexhaustible tenderness and patience he sought, 
uplifted and encouraged a young soul already lost to 
family and friends, surrounded by a thousand pitfalls, 
and beset by violent temptation. How he waited, 
prayed and did penance for that soul, guiding and 
safely leading it forth from sin, ruin and despondency; 
until at last he had the joy of placing the repenting 
one in a haven of safety, where several years of heroic 
penance and holy living were followed by a happy 
death. 

The greater the sin, the more hopeless and tempted 
the soul, the stronger burned the zeal of the saintly 
Confessor to gain such a one for Christ. Truly may it 
be said that the words of the great Saint Dionysius 
found a living echo in his heart, " Of all divine things, 
there is nothing more divine than to cooperate with 
God in the salvation of souls." 

The great control he exercised over himself and 
the virtues he practised amid the exigencies of occur- 
rences were often manifest. Having generously con- 
io6 



Rt. Rev. A. A, Curtis, D.D. 

sented to perform the functions of a religious cere- 
mony on one occasion, at which he was to preach, his 
surprise mounted to a feeling of just indignation, 
when upon reaching his destination, after a walk of 
two miles, he was informed that several were waiting 
to make their confessions before the ceremony. He 
positively refused to go to the confessional, saying it 
was not the moment, and besides he had heard the con- 
fessions only a few days before, but after some further 
importunity, he finally relented and bracing himself 
up for the ordeal, walked quickly to the confessional, 
where he was confronted by two tall candlesticks and 
a large armchair, which had been hidden there and 
forgotten in the preparations for the festivities. The 
Bishop's feelings may be more easily imagined than 
expressed, as he struggled to remove the barriers to 
his entrance. 

As soon as he reached the Gospel of the Mass, turn- 
ing to his audience, he gave a beautiful discourse on 
the acceptance of the Will of God at every moment, 
which he said should be recognized and embraced even 
In the unexpected events of life. " When I came out 
here this morning it was with the intention of saying 
Mass and giving a little instruction, but I did not ex- 
pect to hear confessions. I was not prepared for that, 
and I acknowledge my fault that I was not pleased 
when I found I had to do it. So let us make up our 
mind to be prepared to accept that which God asks of 
us at the moment, and beg of Him to give us the grace 
to receive what He sends, whether it be pleasing to 
us or not." 

When the Bishop took possession of his See, he 
found that all church property stood in the name of 
the Bishop of the diocese — a most unsatisfactory state 
of affairs at best, one which In case of the Bishop's 
death could cause great complication, and to which he 
determined to apply a prompt remedy. 

For this purpose, and with great Inconvenience to 
107 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

himself, he took steps to obtain from the legislatures 
of the three states in which the diocese lies, namely, 
Maryland, Virginia and Delaware, the passing of a 
law, that would permit an incorporate title for each 
separate church and dependent property. 

This appeal the Bishop pushed perseveringly for 
several years, until at last his untiring energy was 
crowned with success. Then came a second and still 
more laborious task; that of visiting every church of 
his diocese, and taking the necessary legal steps, to 
have the title, standing in the name of the Bishop of 
Wilmington, changed to the recognized incorporate 
title. 

Not such an agreeable work for the one who under- 
took and carried it through, but a work which has been 
of the greatest benefit to all concerned; thus straight- 
ening out matters, from which unpleasant consequences 
could easily have arisen. Finding that many of the 
parishes wxre carrying heavy bonds, mortgages and 
other forms of indebtedness, the Bishop determined 
to make personal application for financial help to the 
neighboring dioceses that were in a more flourishing 
condition. He made constant and eloquent appeals 
as liberty was granted him, to different congregations 
in New York, Baltimore, Boston, Philadelphia and 
received considerable help, although in diminutive in- 
stalments. His next movement was to hold a diocesan 
bazaar which netted him $28,000, which with some 
handsome donations from personal friends, enabled 
him to clear away the greater part of the debt through- 
out the diocese. 

Thereupon he made a law at his first Synod, that 
no more debt should be contracted beyond $150 for 
any purpose whatever, for he contended that it is no 
more justifiable for a church or religious organiza- 
tion to make unnecessary debt than for individuals. 
All are bound to practise economy and live within 
their means, and especially ought this to hold good 
108 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

with regard to bishops, priests and religious, who in 
this, as in all other matters, should be the leaders and 
exemplars. 

One of his clergy offered him the bulk of his modest 
little patrimony, which the Bishop declined to accept, 
and noticing the painful effect produced by his refusal, 
he made the singular observation that he had already 
been accused of promoting this priest because bribed 
to do so by a fabulous sum. " This bequest," he said, 
'' ought at least to be held sacred, as it does not belong 
to the diocese, and will be needful later," which proved 
a very fortunate prophecy. 

Writing to a priest of the diocese on the subject of 
debt, he said, " The longer I live the more I am op- 
posed to debt anywhere, and most of all in the case of 
country churches." 

On one occasion, when preaching, his words seemed 
to apply so directly to the officiating clergyman that the 
latter could not conceal his displeasure; upon observing 
it the Bishop accosted him, and demanded the cause of 
his offence. In his turn, the Bishop felt deeply moved 
to think that he could be accused of any such dishonor- 
able procedure, and assured the Father that every word 
of the sermon had been addressed to himself. He 
had often been heard to say, that when he preached it 
was more for himself than for others, and that if one 
wished to reform others, he should begin with himself. 
" Let each one reform himself," he said, " and that 
will be the best way to reform and convert the country." 

The Bishop imposed upon himself the duty of visit- 
ing the County Almshouse to hear the confessions of 
the inmates, and this he did twice a year, choosing 
Christmas Eve and Holy Saturday for his visits. His 
indulgent kindness and tender sympathy drew all to 
him, and gained many hardened sinners. None feared 
to approach him, for he could not speak an unkind 
word, but on the contrary seemed to say like his pro- 
totype: " My heart is enlarged for you all." 2 Cor. 
109 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

vi. 1 1. Men and women who had remained away from 
the sacred tribunal of Penance for years, returned 
weeping, or sobbing like children, so much touched 
were they by his love and paternal tenderness. He 
offered the first holy Mass at this Institution, giving 
the chalice, vestments and altar cloths, and that the 
inmates might have the consolation of assisting at the 
holy sacrifice more frequently, he appointed one of 
his priests to say Mass there every month. He had 
the stations erected for their benefit, and when he 
preached to them his sermons were full of charity, 
and the love of one another. Nor was he less solici- 
tous for their bodily comfort, sending them fruit, con- 
fectionery, nuts and raisins, and even tobacco for the 
old men, and this he did every year at Christmas and 
Easter, providing at the same time for the whole Insti- 
tution. On Holy Thursday he gathered twelve of 
the old men in his Cathedral, to wash their feet im- 
mediately after the long morning services. Before 
drying them he kissed them, notwithstanding the fact 
that some were gangrenous and of a ver\^ repulsive 
appearance; then he dismissed them with a liberal 
alms. 

Every year he held a Diocesan Synod, which lasted 
three full days, in which the laws and regulations 
of the diocese were promulgated, religious questions 
discussed, and social intercourse kept up between the 
clergy. Mass was celebrated each day and a sermon 
preached to which the laity were invited, and this was 
productive of much good in manifold ways. 

At the close of these synods the Bishop, seated on 
the predella of the Altar, and vested in cope and mitre, 
holding his crosier firmly in hand, made the final ad- 
dress. Never at any time did he appear to be more 
fully invested with all the power and majesty of Apos- 
tolic succession. In clear, powerful and even impas- 
sioned words, he addressed his clergy as one bearing 
authority, deeply impressing all present with the solid- 
no 




Jh/^>W> o/oA/^^ ^/r/;i 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

Ity of his vigorous sentiments, while his strong, sten- 
torian tones seemed to make the very walls of the 
Cathedral vibrate. 

The Bishop delighted to show hospitality to his 
clergy and to have them around him, and these meet- 
ings truly resembled the reunion of Father and Sons. 
On one of these occasions Father Gaffney, a pious 
Jesuit, who was then stationed at the old Bohemia 
Manor, remarked that he could not understand how 
people generally were so dissatisfied with their past 
life. " He had," he said, " not done anything out of 
the common, but had he to begin life over again he did 
not know how he could manage any better." The 
Bishop clapped his hands, declaring enthusiastically 
that he was most delighted to hear one hold this 
opinion, which he shared with him from the fullness 
of his heart. " I, too," remarked the Bishop, " can 
conscientiously say that I have tried to live the best 
I know how, with the lights and graces given me, and 
I would not know how to do any better, if I had to 
begin my life over again." He was ever the good and 
faithful steward and kept himself in readiness for the 
summons, which for him might come at any time, or 
in any way most pleasing to the divine Will. The fol- 
lowing simple but forcible comparison which he once 
made use of when speaking of keeping oneself always 
ready for the call, will prove the truth of this assertion: 

" Just as a school-master might say to his pupils 
when leaving the class-room, I will return, but without 
letting them know whether it will be in an hour or 
less, fearing that they would give themselves up to 
amusements if they knew that they had a certain length 
of time, and would do their duty only when they ex- 
pected him to return; so our Lord mercifully conceals 
from us the time of His coming, for if people knew 
that they had several years to live, they might spend 
most of the time in earthly enjoyments and prepare 
for death only when it is near; thus they would lose 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

the reward that might have been theirs had they always 
kept themselves in readiness for His coming at any 
hour." Our Lord says, " Watch ye therefore, be- 
cause you know not zv/iat hour your Lord will come." 
Matt. xxiv. 42. 

Although a lo\er of his country and scrupulously 
obedient to every law, the Bishop was not blind to her 
demerits. He called himself " An American of Ameri- 
cans," possibly alluding to the day of his birth in con- 
nection with the " Day of Independence," but he did 
not fear nor hesitate to cry down that spirit of inde- 
pendence peculiar to the American nation. " There is 
in every one of us," he said, " that spirit of rebellion, 
what we are pleased to call American Independence. 
I feel it every hour of my life; I have to crush it and 
trample it down. We began In rebellion, we were born 
In rebellion, and w^e glory in It, saying like Lucifer: 
'Who shall rule over us? Who shall be Lord over 
us?' That spirit w^hlch we see everywhere, that is 
the spirit we 've got to crush out." This spirit of in- 
dependence w^hlch the Bishop so forcibly condemned 
had reference In his mind, principally to the effect it 
has on Individuals, In their duty to God and religion, 
emancipating them from all submission to authority, 
without which there is no true order — "God's first 
law." 

He was essentially a candidate for the Eternal and 
Heavenly Country, and strove to lift all, who were 
subject to him, above the narrow limits of earthly 
boundaries to seek first and always, the Kingdom of 
God and His justice. 

It will not be out of place to quote here from one 
of his letters in which he is ready to apologize for any 
offence his strong expressions, regarding American in- 
dependence, may have given; at the same time corrob- 
orating his decided opinion on this subject: "It re- 
lieves me a good deal to know that my opinion of the 
American spirit did not make you angry. I have been 
1 12 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

scolding myself ever since for having been so unwise 
as to say such a thing. But in my own case I do feel 
so profoundly the misfortune of having grown up, 
not only as an American, but as a Protestant, that 
sometimes my feelings contrive to get the use of my 
tongue." 

These humble remarks of the Bishop bring forth 
another beautiful trait in his character — his considera- 
tion for the feelings of others, which always distin- 
guished him, for he lived by the rule of austerity to self 
and mildness to the neighbor. Writing to a friend 
who with him had been implicated in a misunderstand- 
ing which brought much anxiety and trouble to both, 
he says: "The late complication caused me trouble 
too, but I can't say I suffered. I think I am incapable 
of anything which you would call suffering; neverthe- 
less I had what you did not have, viz., self-reproach. 
First, on account of hastiness in writing. I am get- 
ting old, and have known much as to the mischief com- 
ing of precipitancy, so I was without excuse in not wait- 
ing. Secondly, I accused myself of cowardice as to the 
matter. When writing at all, I should have written 

straight to you or to C . When I am cool, I am 

morbidly afraid of paining others, and am always con- 
sidering how I can escape inflicting upon them anything 
likely to hurt. And I weakly yielded to the dread of 
hurting either of you, and made a request which I 

ought not to have made of M , and after all caused 

both a good deal more suffering than would have come 
had I written frankly to either or both, and this Is 
usually the result of cowardice." 

It Is easy to recognize in the Bishop what Cardinal 
Newman Is pleased to style his Idea of a true gentle- 
man — "one who never needlessly Inflicts pain." 
But the most striking characteristic of the Bishop's 
holy life was undoubtedly his humility, for humility 
was the foundation of his spiritual edifice as well as 
the crowning glory of his old age; it led him not only 

113 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

to a complete forgetfulness and abnegation of self, 
but even to that sublime degree of virtue which made 
him love to be despised and counted as nothing for 
Christ's sake. 

Like all great souls he loved truth, therefore he 
loved humility and walked in its truth, showing forth 
in word and deed the practice of that admonition of 
St. Paul. " In humility, let each esteem others better 
than themselves." Phil. ii. 3. St. Francis de Sales 
tells us that, " Charity is an ascending humility, and 
humility is a descending charity," a teaching also ex- 
emplified in the life of God's humble servant, who 
found nothing too mean or too low when there was 
question of serving the neighbor. " Menial occupation 
lowers no man," he would say; "the only thing that 
lowers a man is sin." One of his priests relates the 
following incident : " On a certain occasion, when room- 
ing with him in an out-of-the-way country place, I was 
astonished upon aw^akening in the morning to find that 
the Bishop was already up, and quietly blackening my 
shoes. ' You shall not do that,' I cried in dismay. 
'And why not,' he replied, with his usual simplicity; 
* I may as well do it, since I have finished my own.' " 

Among the many Instances of his inimitable conde- 
scension one recalls having seen him peel and quarter 
an orange for a little girl, then take the greatest pleas- 
ure in watching her eat it. This little one verified the 
words of the Psalmist: " Out of the mouths of babes 
and sucklings Thou hast perfected praise," for turning 
to her mother she whispered, " The Bishop is a Saint." 
Doubtless this was the thought, also, of another of 
God's little ones, whom the Bishop was seen relieving 
of her heav^y basket and helping across a muddy 
crowded thoroughfare. 

At another time a bevy of children ranging from six 

to ten years gathered around the benevolent Bishop 

during one of his visits to a home where he was always 

welcome. He looked exceedingly pleased, and smiling 

114 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

on the innocent upturned faces entertained them with 
a number of Interesting anecdotes, after which he en- 
gaged each one to relate some little incident, according 
to the capacity of their young minds, helping and en- 
couraging them to find their words, and form their 
thoughts. This innocent and simple entertainment was 
a source of keen enjoyment to the children, and no small 
cause of astonishment to a fond Mama, who seeing 
her bashful, timid boy transformed into a young Cicero 
under the kindly encouragement of the Bishop, could 
not restrain her enthusiasm. The Bishop not only 
loved to bend down to little children, but even the dumb 
animal had its place in his sympathetic heart. He used 
to say: " the humble docility of the domestic animals 
always touches me; we can learn from them many a 
lesson," and again: '' I could almost love the toad, be- 
cause it is so humble and despised," and stooping to 
the ground, he spoke gently to that lowly creature. 

On another occasion, in the depths of winter, when 
the sidewalks were covered with sleet, the good Bishop 
was seen rescuing a drowning kitten. Stepping cau- 
tiously along the slippery pavement to a barrel near 
the curbstone, he plunged his arm into the icy water 
and drew forth a half-starved, pitiful looking kitten. 
He rubbed Its back, smoothed Its fur, and setting it on 
its feet, clapped his hands, saying, " Run now, run for 
your life, lest some naughty boy again play the same 
trick on you." This little scene was witnessed by the 
occupants of a snow-bound car, who were greatly Im- 
pressed with such an exhibition of humane kindness on 
the part of the Bishop, who was wholly indifferent to 
the gaze of the spectators. 

That ardent lover of all God's creatures, the great 
St. Francis of AssisI, who embraced the folly of the 
Cross for Christ's sake, did not consider It beneath him 
to preach to the birds of the air, and the fishes of the 
sea, whom he called his little brothers and sisters. The 
Bishop shared In this love both for bird and fish. 

115 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

" Some people do not like the sparrow/' he once re- 
marked, ''but I do; he is such a sturdy little fellow, 
and then his chirping always takes me back to the days 
of my retreat at the Oratory in England, where pray- 
ing and meditating in the church I heard the continual 
chirp of the sparrows from the yard below. They al- 
ways remind me too of our heavenly Father's care, 
and of His ineffable Providence over His children — " 
" Better are you than many sparrows " . . . " and not 
one of them shall fall to the ground without your 
Father." Matt. x. 29, 31. 

Love, not only for whatever was poor and lowly, 
but for poverty itself, held an exalted place in the 
Bishop's heart. Few persons knew to what an extent 
he practised personal poverty, so carefully did he hide 
his self-denial, especially during the last ten or fifteen 
years of his life. He gave aw^ay clothing until he had 
for himself what was barely necessary; he was *' better 
pleased not to be bothered with superfluity," and he 
" liked what was coarse and common "; yet those who 
knew the Bishop well are quite aware that this was not 
a natural attraction, but entirely supernatural. 

Like every true preacher of the Gospel, he despised 
the world, and trampled under foot all earthly gran- 
deur, for he well understood that a Bishop should give 
an example of evangelical poverty. His grave attire, 
modest mien and plain living, as well as his poor Epis- 
copal residence gave evidence of that interior detach- 
ment and abnegation of self, which he loved and prac- 
tised so well. In later years on more than one occa- 
sion, to his great delight, he was taken for a beggar, 
for the outfit he adopted in riding the bicycle so com- 
pletely disguised him, that his most intimate friends 
failed to recognize him. Speaking of these little epi- 
sodes in a letter, he says: *' I rode out to Notre Dame 
to see the children, and the doorkeeper more than 
half-suspected me to be a tramp, though it seems to me 
I was respectably clad." At another time, going out 
116 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

from Baltimore on his wheel to the country home of 
some devoted friends, he was mistaken for a beggar 
by the servant who opened the door, and whose manner 
intimated that he should enter the house by another 
way. A little later what amusement on one side, and 
what embarrassment on the other! 

The Bishop himself tells the following story: He 
went to call on a suburban priest to make arrangements 
for Confirmation, and when he asked for Father X the 
good housekeeper looking at him doubtfully replied, 
*' he is very busy, sir, and I don't think he can come 
down " — the bicycle had been left out of sight. She 
announced, however, " a poor man at the door," and 
returning, offered him a nickel, saying, " Father X is 
preparing his sermon and cannot be interrupted." 
"■ Please tell him that Bishop Curtis wishes to speak to 
him," said the smiHng prelate, at the same time show- 
ing his pectoral cross. The consternation and embar- 
rassment of the good woman may be more easily 
imagined than expressed. 

How edifying to behold this humble Bishop hiding 
under so poor and lowly an exterior such rare and ex- 
ceptional gifts of mind and heart ! One of his brothers 
in the Episcopacy said of him: "he is the kind of 
saint anybody can live with," for his forgetfulness of 
self and consideration for others had become in him a 
second nature. 



117 



CHAPTER IX 

1888- 1893 

TT would be impossible to speak worthily of the events 
■*- in the active life of Bishop Curtis in the country dis- 
tricts of the diocese, and his invaluable services to re- 
ligion, which endeared him to the hearts of all, whether 
in or out of the household of the Faith. His tender 
solicitude extended to the whole flock committed to 
his care, for every member was dear to him, but like 
the Good Shepherd he rightly considered, there were 
other sheep outside the Fold, and these also he must 
bring in. 

They were all his children, and no father's heart 
ever warmed with more generous affection; hence in 
season and out of season, he lived, labored and sacri- 
ficed himself to serve them. He brought all his ingenu- 
ity and energy to bear in devising ways and means to 
benefit them, gathering them together from the high- 
ways and byways, into public halls or private dwellings, 
in saw-mills and even in the open air, when no shelter 
could be found, and there ministering to them. 

He induced his friends to build churches and chapels 
as memorials to their dead, in towns and villages where 
no Catholic resided, maintaining quite rightly, that 
these edifices would serve as silent Missionaries in the 
absence of a resident priest. He ever contended that 
the country required priests of tried and sterling mis- 
sionary virtues, and w^henever possible he assigned the 
pick of his clergy to such places, saying: " If we would 
have good citizens and politicians, we must make the 
country people good," and as he never failed to set 
the example, he became the leader in the field, bravely 
118 



Rt, Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

bearing every burden and enduring all kinds of 
hardships. 

On one occasion, being accompanied by a young priest 
who was little accustomed to the Bishop's austere way 
of living, and who, feeling the pangs of hunger as the 
hour for the evening meal approached, was greatly 
astonished to see the good Bishop draw forth from his 
pocket some apples, cheese and crackers, which he 
offered to share with him. The young man looked 
aghast, but became still more embarrassed when the 
Bishop Insisted upon his going to the hotel, where he 
would perhaps find a better meal, but, as for himself, 
he needed nothing more, being accustomed to such fare. 
Father X having found a meal " according to his 
taste " at the country Inn, after engaging rooms for 
the night, returned to the church In search of the 
Bishop. As it was growing late and both were fatigued 
from the labors of the day, Father X proposed retir- 
ing to their quarters at the hotel, upon which the Bishop 
replied: " You may go, but I have a place right here," 
pointing to the foot of the altar. " I will just roll up 
this old cassock, which will do for a pillow, and wrap 
myself In this rug, and I am fixed for the night." 

How many times In making the rounds of his " Wil- 
derness " did he not pass nights In a similar way at the 
foot of the Tabernacle, not thinking of his own com- 
fort or convenience when there was question of the 
Master's service? 

His Intense love for the eastern shore of Mary- 
land as being the place of his birth, together with his 
experimental knowledge of its spiritual destitution, 
made his heart yearn for the salvation of Its scattered 
Inhabitants. He, therefore, set to work to make a 
foundation in that section of the country which ex- 
tended one hundred and fifteen miles from the Dela- 
ware line on the north, to Cape Charles, Virginia, on 
the south; and on the east and west, from ocean to 
bay. The first church built by the Bishop was a neat 
119 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

little brick edilicc erected at Cape Charles, the farthest 
point south of his diocese, about two hundred miles 
from Wilmington. 

Although no Catholics resided in the village, he con- 
ceived the idea of making it a center for several neigh- 
boring missions on the eastern shores of Maryland 
and \'irginia. Providing a resident pastor for St. 
Charles, the Bishop continued to serve this mission in 
conjunction with him, visiting it as often as practicable. 

Reverend Edward Mickle of Baltimore, who had 
just finished his studies, and been ordained in Rome, 
was chosen for this post, which he has continued to 
serve most faithfully to the present time. Father 
Mickle had enjoyed the friendship of the holy Bishop 
several years previous to his appointment to the See 
of Wilmington, and now his example was to be an In- 
spiration to the newly ordained, whose love and ad- 
miration for his Superior caused him to follow close in 
his footsteps. " Who could help learning in such a 
school, and with such a teacher? " he remarked in his 
eulogy of the Bishop, one year after the holy Prelate 
had passed away. " He did not command us," he con- 
tinued to say, " but invited. ' Follow me,' he seemed to 
say; ' fear not failure, but let us do our duty,' and as 
our leader, he went on ahead, and led the pace. If 
through w^eakness we sometimes falter, yet, the Infec- 
tion of his example has been contagious, and such an 
Impetus has been given us, his priests and people, as 
shall not soon wither away and perish." ^ 

On the occasion of the dedication of this little 
church, followed shortly afterwards by its consecra- 
tion, the Bishop's remarkable spirit of piety and pen- 
ance shone forth conspicuously. Though so far re- 
moved from the seat of his See, he had everything suit- 
able for a Pontifical Mass transported to the town, 
from his finest outfit of vestments, mitre and crosier, 
to the slippers, gloves and gremlale used by him on 

* Anniversan' Mass at St. Peter's. 
120 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

great solemnities in his cathedral. He invited as 
many of his clergy as could be spared from their par- 
ishes, engaged his Vicar-General to preach on the occa- 
sion, and did everything in his power to make the 
ceremony one of real splendor. 

On the eve of the great day he crossed the bay to 
Norfolk to engage a choir for the Mass, and return- 
ing was seen making the final preparations; sweeping 
the church and lighting the lamps, for there was no 
gas, much less an electric button to operate then; this 
he did by means of a board which he placed across the 
back of the pews, and springing upon it, he accom- 
plished the work in an incredibly short time. This feat 
was repeated six times, as he moved up the aisle, board 
In hand. One more task remained to be done ere the 
energetic Bishop could take some rest; this was to pave 
a way over the mud to serve as an entrance to the 
church, a work he accomplished alone, laying down 
straw and making it solid by stamping upon it, after 
which, missing his handsome episcopal ring, he 
searched, and found it deeply imbedded in the straw. 

Some years later the Bishop had the consolation of 
seeing his zealous, self-sacrificing labors at Cape 
Charles blessed a hundred-fold, in spite of the preju- 
dice and criticism to which he was subjected, regarding 
the inopportuneness of building a church in such a 
waste. The town became the terminal of a new rail- 
road to the South, and this brought trade to the place, 
which, with the increase of population gave it con- 
siderable importance.^ 

The Bishop made preliminary arrangements for the 
building of a school, which later was enlarged by the 

* The flourishing town of Cape Charles In Nottingham County, East 
Virginia, is the extreme southern point of the Dclmarvia Peninsula, and 
occupies the site of what was known as " Old Plantation," in the days of 
Captain Smith and the Jamestown settlers, who made it their resort for 
vegetables and other produce. This section of the country is very rich 
and fertile, and is to-day a garden not for Jamestown alone, but for all the 
great cities of the north and west. Farm land lias increased in value six- 
fold in the past iifteen years, and is not for sale at any price. 

121 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

pastor to accommodate the increased number of pupils. 
Writing at this time to one who felt an interest in his 
work at Cape Charles, he gives expression to the im- 
mense satisfaction he enjoys at its success: " I told you 
that twenty-five years would prove us right and give 
us the name of sagacity in so early founding this out- 
post in the desert, and it appears now that my prognos- 
tication is going to be verified. Please give my love to 
all and warn them again how much I depend upon their 
prayers always and especially here in the ' Wilder- 
ness.' " This name of " Wilderness " which the Bishop 
gives to his Missions signifies its spiritual destitution, 
not its want of material prosperity; for the eastern 
shore of Maryland is so abundant and prolific in its re- 
sources, as to be called by its people the " flower gar- 
den " of the state. 

Some friends of the holy missionary visiting him in 
his " Wilderness," he took pleasure in introducing them 
to the beauties of his favorite spot on the peninsula — 
a secluded forest of beautiful towering pines, inter- 
spersed with rich clustering holly. The sturdy old 
trees had been shedding their needles for years, and 
had formed a soft brown carpet, which rendered noise- 
less the passage of the carriage, while the gentle sigh- 
ing of the breeze through the forest inspired a rev- 
erent silence. But what added more to the impres- 
siveness of the scene was the view which met their as- 
tonished eyes on coming forth from this silent retreat. 
Immediately facing them was the broad expanse of the 
great Atlantic with its wide-spreading beach, inviting 
the impetuous wave to rest under the spell of this awe- 
inspiring scene. 

Breaking the silence, which was almost prayerful, 
the Bishop exclaimed, " This is the place of my de- 
lights, here I would willingly spend my days." And 
what more beautiful spot for elevating mind and heart 
to God, where forest and sea praise Him, and no crea- 
ture intervenes to mar that silence, so aptly called the 

122 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

" voice of God." The two great attractions of the 
Bishop's life may here be recognized — the active, in 
his laborious devotedness to these rough country mis- 
sions — and the contemplative, in his adoring love of 
God in His creation. Truly could it be said of him, 
that he was enamoured of solitude, and yet when the 
moment came for action, he gave himself up to it with 
such earnestness, that one might say he cared for naught 
else. 

A second mission dear to the heart of this devoted 
shepherd was Salisbury, where in toil and weariness he 
spent himself for the sake of a few scattered sheep of 
his fold. " It was here," relates one of his clergy, 
" that the Bishop built a little church, though there was 
but one Catholic family, very poor and indifferent, in 
the place, the only other Catholics being an old man 
and a good old woman, an invalid. The Bishop at- 
tended this mission once every month, setting out Sat- 
urday morning and going by rail to Delmar, within six 
miles of the place. There he invariably left the train 
and made the rest of the journey on foot, in all sorts 
of weather. He returned on Monday in the same way, 
as he considered walking the most Apostolic manner of 
travelling. 

'' While at the mission he slept in the sacristy, mak- 
ing up his own cot, sweeping out the church, and in the 
winter cleaning the stove and kindling the fire. Need- 
less to say there was no sexton. Before leaving Wil- 
mington, he would put some apples, cheese and crackers 
in his pockets, and this served as his only food until 
his return. 

" The congregation at Mass was sometimes two 
and rarely more than five or six souls. After an hour 
or more spent in catechising a class of three, he would 
pass the rest of the afternoon in prayer before the 
Blessed Sacrament. In the evening a number of Prot- 
estants would come to hear him preach. 

" This he did for years, with no apparent fruit from 
123 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

his labor other than that he thus became an example 
to his priests, whom he always led rather than com- 
manded." 

It should be told how this little mission so inauspi- 
clously begun, where the Bishop uncomplainingly en- 
dured so many privations, has in its turn, become quite 
a flourishing parish. From the two or three Catholics 
who composed the congregation it has increased to 
more than a hundred souls, and the pretty little church 
named in honor of St. Francis de Sales, has a resident 
pastor, who with his assistant, both Oblate Fathers 
of the holy Missionary Saint of the Chablais, devote 
themselves to the parish of Salisbury, and several neigh- 
boring missions. 

Ten years after his resignation of the See of Wil- 
mington, in speaking of this little mission so dear to 
his heart, the Bishop says: " I am very glad my Suc- 
cessor proposes to cultivate Salisbury. If he accom- 
plishes much, and I trust he will, it will be the case of 
some sowing and others reaping. For all in all there 
has been for many years a good deal of sowing in that 
place, but until lately nothing came of the sowing, save, 
perhaps, some increase of merit on the part of the 
sowers themselves," and he adds, " You will soon have 
Salisbury erected into a * Suffragan See ' with a resi- 
dent pastor." ^ Indeed this last took place in 19 lo, 
two years after the holy Bishop had passed away, when 
his worthy successor, the Right Reverend John J. Mon- 
aghan, placed two Oblate Fathers at Salisbury. 

The increase of Catholicity in the place, though not 
great, was a source of joy and consolation to Bishop 
Curtis, to which he reverted many times, even speaking 
of it on his death-bed. One of the last acts of his 
laborious life was to visit his former diocese at the 
invitation of Bishop Monaghan, to dedicate a little 
church at Westover, Maryland, which is but a few miles 

* This was merely a little witticism of the Bishop at the expense of his 
clerical friend who then had charge of the mission at Salisbury. 

124 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

from the place of his birth. He liked what the world 
calls little works more than great ones, and would show 
his displeasure whenever a place of commercial pros- 
perity was praised and spoken of as God's country. 
^' God does not look at things in that way," he would 
say, '' for we know He chose Nazareth for His 
country." 

Writing to one who shared with him the toils and 
labors of these missions he says: "I know nothing 
more discouraging than a purely rural mission such 
as yours. How to reach and move the people of such 
a mission I do not know, nor so far as I am aware 
does any one else know. To suppose that the country 
is to be abandoned and nothing cultivated but the towns 
and cities, seems dreadful, and yet labor appears 
wasted everywhere else; yet even in the towns and 
cities we are not doing so much as some imagine. The 
only thing is to live in God, and do moment by moment 
whatever comes to hand. Work for God and leave 
the results to Him; do not look for success in what 
you do, but work for God alone." 

At another time speaking of the Missionaries in- 
vited to preach in the country districts the Bishop says : 
" The Missionaries may apply the spark occasioning 
the explosion, but it is to the pastor that the manufac- 
ture and accumulation of the powder are to be as- 
cribed. I have little admiration for an ambulatory 
goodness, now here and now there, aiid without re- 
sponsibility, monotony or burden anywhere. Such a 
thing is necessary, no doubt, but it is not in my eyes a 
thing of high grade. That grade I ascribe to the man, 
who, in spite of all discouragements, stays in the same 
place and spends himself, so often as it appears in 
vain, for the same people. The travelling man has no 
permanent weight to carry, he sees the best of every- 
thing and if he finds anything unpleasant, he knows 
that in a few days he will leave it behind. But the stay- 
at-home sees the worst, as well as the best, and lie must 
125 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

all the time face everything and run away from noth- 
ing. Men cannot be found who are able, or who, if 
able, are willing to give themselves wholly and for- 
ever to work in the country places, and in the absence 
of such men little can be done by any mere perambu- 
lator. The difficulties and discouragements in districts 
where the people are not only so apathetic, but so far 
apart from one another, are so very great that one may 
be well excused, if he come to believe himself simply 
wasted in such a region. All honor to any who prove 
superior to the temptation to seek better places." 

But as example Is stronger than precept, what more 
forcible illustration of the Bishop's hidden, unselfish 
labors and practice of his own teaching can be given 
than the account contained in the follow^ing letters, 
written by him upon his return from those " expedi- 
tions down below," as he humorously terms them. 

These letters were addressed to one who fully under- 
stood and appreciated the difficulties of the surround- 
ings, being well acquainted with the habits and cus- 
toms of the people, as well as with the inconveniences 
attending the journey. While the Bishop's taste for 
adventure and the simple life is apparent amid these 
labors in the rural districts, the Irksomeness and fatigue 
were none the less felt as was also the monotony, and 
seeming uselessness of his unsparing devotedness. 

WiLMiNXTOX, Del., March 19, 1888. 

The blizzard caught me at Snow Hill. Notwith- 
standing the pouring rain the Court-house was half 
full, and that night I thought I was going to be turned 
out-of-doors. I w^as going to Berlin at 7.20 A. M. So 
I got up about 4 A. M., and between 5 and 6 began to 
say Mass in my room at the Inn. I had to drag the 
bureau across the floor and place It In front of the fire- 
place In order to keep the candles lighted. During 
Mass the storm did rage and I thought the windows 
wxuld certainly come In, even if the w^hole side of the 
126 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

room did not give way. But I held on and finished 
without mishap. I got to Berlin safely, but there was 
no walking for me next day. The Mass was to be at 
6 on Tuesday, that I might get the train at 7.50. 
Word had been sent to Patrick, but I never dreamed 
he would come. About 5 A. M. I heard some vehicle 
crunching into town from his direction, and by 5.30 
he was on hand. I stuck him close to the stove, thawed 
him, and heard his confession; and really I thought 
he had come as near as a man well can, to earning his 
Communion. After waiting an hour and a half I got 
off and reached Harrington about midday; there I 
stayed until 7 P. M., when a train came poking along 
and I got on board. Some miles below Dover we stuck 
fast, and they sent to Clayton for somebody to dig us 
out; we waited in a car not quite as cold as out-of- 
doors. They liberated us in time and I got to Wil- 
mington between i and 2 A. M., Wednesday. 

The next day I went off again to Queenstown for 
a sort of Mission there. They told me the road to 
Centreville was open, but they were false. When I 
reached Townsend they had just begun to clear the 
road, and no one knew when a train would get through, 
so I set off and walked over nine miles to Massey's with 
the intention of going farther if there should be no 
speedy prospect of a train. Fortunately I found the 
Kent Road cleared to Massey's, so I went to Chester- 
town by the train. There I stayed all night and took 
steamboat to Centreville, from which place in a 
wagon carrying the mail over the fields, through the 
woods and across ditches, I got within a mile and a 
half of Father Scott's and then walked the rest of the 
way. 

The next morning we were due at St. Joseph's, 
nine or ten miles away; we tried It first in a carriage, 
no thoroughfare, so we went back and saddled the 
horses and tried again. By all sorts of turnings and 
windings, scrambling over ditches, jumping fences, and 
127 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

scrambling through the woods we got to St. Joseph's 
a little alter 1 1 A. M. I said Mass and gave them a 
homily and then we remounted and returned after the 
same fashion. Y'esterday I was at Queenstown, and 
this morning I took the boat thence to Baltimore, and 
from Baltimore came home. So you see I made out 
pretty well. Anyhow the weather did not beat me 

Yrs. Faithfully, 
A. A. Curtis, Bishop of JVilmington. 

Wilmington, May i, 1888. 

I am glad the Jesuits turned up at last and hope 
they got the cottage, for it would be good for them 
and for the place too. I am sure you don't miss Salis- 
bury so much as it misses you. I went first to West- 
over, and said Mass there on Saturday; there were at 
least ten Communions, and two or three were absent 
w^ho ought to have been present. I went to Salisbury 
by the mixed train, and certainly It did not mix any 
speed with Its poklness. Do you remember Forrest 

Hall? Mr. F got that for me, and a dreary place 

it Is. I went at once to fix up things for Sunday, and 
found something with four legs, a piece, I think, of an 
old counter. I lugged It on the stage and then hunted 

up two blocks for a super altar. Mrs. S brought 

a tablecloth large enough to cover all, and my bag 
supplied the rest. 

When I had done the best I could I went out to re- 
fresh myself with a stroll on the river bank. I saw 
a small schooner or bug-eye coming down, and I made 
up my mind she was going to get into a scrape, so I 
picked out the place where she was coming to grief 
and waited to see how she would fare; sure enough 
the wind headed her off and she tried beating; she 
missed stays, went aground, drifted back and did every- 
thing except to make way in the right direction. 

Finally I heard the skipper say to the one man con- 
128 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

stituting the crew, we must run to the bank and you 
must get ashore with a rope and drag her through the 
reach, so he attempted this. But while the man was out 
on the jibboom to get ashore, the wind drove her from 
the bank, and he could not get off save into the water, 
so the skipper seeing me asked if I would not catch a 
line. I consented and dragged the boat in till the crew 
got ashore when he and I pulled the boat to a place 
where she could sail; so she went off and left the Bp. 
with the dignity just so conspicuously shown. 

Sunday morning I found the hall cold so I foraged 
all over it first, and gathered everything useless and 
burnable. But not finding this enough I went out to 
the vacant lots and there gathered enough to keep fire 
going; the people enjoyed it but did not suspect they 

owed it to me. By the way, Mr. F 's dog objected 

to my taking away anything from the church lot, and 
barked around me furiously. 

There were but one or two besides the Catholics in 
the morning. X and his eldest son came, but not fast- 
ing. I lambasted him well and told him to bring all 
fasting Monday morning. After all he left one boy 
at home and came with his wife, and the other one. 

There were ten Communions and neither Mrs. F 

nor Mrs. C were present, both being too unwell. 

In the afternoon I went home by the boat via Balti- 
more, which was as cheap, and not counting the night 
quicker. I was at Denton last Sunday, and had the 
court-house full at night, and the church more than 
full in the morning. There seems a rather good spirit 
In the place, and we must try and get a new church 
there next summer. The old one is too small and very 

dilapidated. I am sorry Mr. T Is under the 

weather, the sea-side will cure him I hope. 

Love to all, and mind that you pray for us. 

While the famous bicycle was yet a novelty, a friend 
of the Bishop thought to give him some exercise of a 
129 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

recreative character by presenting him with one of 
these little machines; besides, he was beginning to feel 
the inroads of rheumatism, and the benefit he might 
derive from the exercise was urged as a sufficient rea- 
son for adopting the wheel. It was not then so com- 
mon a means of conveyance as it became later, when 
so many indulged in its use, so that when it was ru- 
mored abroad that the Bishop of Wilmington was de- 
liberating as to whether he should accept a bicycle or 
not, it created quite a panic among his feminine friends 
who besought him to decline the gift. Notwithstand- 
ing their remonstrances and fears, and even their 
prayers, the good Bishop accepted the much decried 
vehicle, resolving to make it serve a double purpose — 
a means of travel to his far-away missions, as well as 
to provide the necessary exercise. It has been said 
that he rode several times from Wilmington to St. 
Charles College, near Ellicott City, by way of Havre 
de Grace, a distance of some eighty miles; that he trav- 
elled to and from the "Protectory" — an Orphan 
Asylum In his diocese — every week, where work 
awaited him, and that he thought nothing of a stretch 
of sixty or seventy miles a day. When questioned 
as to how he felt about riding the bicycle, he replied, 
" It gives me the best kind of exercise, and I would 
be glad if our young priests would adopt the same 
method of travel, and thereby be relieved of the ex- 
pense of keeping a horse, which Is an item of some 
consideration." 

He penetrated Into the roughest parts of his dio- 
cese on the wheel, and was once seen carrying a port- 
able altar on his shoulders, that he might offer the Holy 
Sacrifice of the Mass In some out-of-the-way place, 
where the people were too poor to get to church. It 
was a hot Summer day, and the good Bishop " looked 
the worst for the wear " as he approached a cottage 
on the roadside, where some friends were seated. 
Their sympathy being excited, they began expostulating 
130 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

with him, begging him to accept a purse, which would 
enable him to adopt a more suitable and easier mode 
of travel in such weather. He graciously declined, 
saying, " If you give me this for car fare I must re- 
fuse, but if for my people I will use it." 

The natural dislike the Bishop had to preaching did 
not prevent his faithfully fulfilling this sacred duty of 
his holy calling. In his visitations of these isolated 
parts of his diocese, he employed freely the great gifts 
of his soul, for the enlightenment and encouragement 
of his hearers, adapting the subjects to the particular 
needs and condition, of each of the districts that he 
studied and knew so well. 

The following list of texts selected for his sermons 
shows with what care and precision he prepared his 
work, and gives some idea of the manner in which he 
spent himself in the faithful service of his people : 



March, 1888, St. Joseph's, Talbot Co., " Penance." 

Sts. Peter and Paul, Queenstown, " Passion as 

all Wisdom." 
March 28, St. Peter's, Wilmington, " Judas." 
March 29, St. Peter's, Wilmington, Evening, *' Geth- 

semane." 
March 30, Good Friday, St. Peter's, Wilmington, *' Pontius 

Pilate." 
April I, Easter, St. Peter's, Wilmington, " Peace be to 

You." 
April I, Evening, St. Peter's, Wilmington, " Blessed are 

They Who have not Seen and have Believed." 
April 8, Dover, " The Real Presence." 

April 8, Dover, " The Catholic Church the Incarnation 

Asserted." 
April 22, Denton, Same under another name, " What Is 

Christianity? " 
May 13, Dover, p. m., " Mistaken Industry." 

May 20, St. Peter's, Wilmington, a. m., " He that hath 

My Commandments, etc." 
May 20, St. Peter's, Wilmington, p. M., " We will Make 

our Abode with Him." 
May 27, St. Patrick's, Wilmington, ** Oneness of Confir- 

mation." 

131 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 



June 3, 



June 3. 
October, 
December 9. 

Christmas, 

Christmas, 

1889. 
Jan. 6, 

April 21, 

April 21, 

Pentecost, 
Pentecost, 

Pentecost, 

Thirteenth S 
Christmas, i 



A. M., 



Oneness of Confirma- 



Dclauare City, 
tion."' 

Newcastle, p. m., " The Great Supper." 

Chestertown, " What is Christianity? " 

Denton, " Blessed \'irgin Mary." 

St. Peter's, Wilmington, a. m.. " The True 
Light which Enlighteneth, etc." 

St. Peter's, Wilmington, p. M., " Power to be- 
come the Sons of God." 

Smyrna, " Catholic and Xon-Catholic Christian- 
ity." 

Easter, St. Peter's, Wilmington, a. m., " If Ye 
be Risen with Christ, etc." 

Easter, St. Peter's, Wilmington, p. m., '' In the 
Garden was a Sepulchre." 

Confirmation, St. Peter's, Wilmington, '* Light." 

High Mass, St. Peter's, Wilmington. " Let not 
Your Heart be Troubled." 

Vespers, St. Peter's, Wilmington, " Not as the 
World Giveth. do I Give." 
unday after Pentecost, Denton, " Purgatory." 
389, St. Peter's Wilmington, " How shall We Es- 
cape if We Neglect so great Salvation?" 
Heb. ii. 3. 



" The personal labors and saintly influence of the 
late Bishop Curtis," says one of the missionaries 
working in these same districts to-day, " have left an 
indelible imprint on the Catholicity of the people in 
these parts, and an inspiring example to young pas- 
tors." Who could doubt this statement, when reading 
of the Innumerable trials, hardships and sacrifices borne 
by the Bishop, whilst he planted and cultivated the 
mystical vines and olives on the eastern shores of 
Mar\^land and Virginia? 

In the declining years of life, feeling that the In- 
firmities of age no longer permitted him to spend him- 
self to such an extent, he was heard to say, " Now that 
I am old and no longer able to work as I once could, 
I take delight in ordaining young priests and sending 
them out Into the vineyard." Work was not, however, 

132 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

to cease for this great lover of missionary life, until 
his last sigh. He was to labor unto the end, even to 
the total extinction of his being, for he literally gave 
his " whole substance " for the love of his God, to the 
complete exhaustion of strength, long undermined by 
great sufferings, silently endured. He knew the value 
of suffering, above all when united to labor, so he suf- 
fered and worked on, for the glory of his Master, and 
the salvation of souls, dying on his feet, as the sequel 
will show. 

In 1889 the Bishop invited the Josephite Fathers to 
work for the colored people of his diocese, and through 
the energetic labors of Father John de Ruyter, St. Jo- 
seph's Church was built, and in connection with it an 
orphan asylum for colored boys was established. A 
few years later St. Joseph's Industrial School at Clay- 
ton, Delaware, was founded, where the boys were 
taught a trade, or worked on the large farm connected 
with the school. During the years 1889 and 1893 no 
less than ten churches were built in the country districts. 

In the city old St. James' was abandoned and a new 
church dedicated to St. Ann was erected on another 
site, in the same parish. 

In 1892 a beautiful edifice for the benefit of the large 
influx of Polish people was raised and dedicated to St. 
Hedwig. 



133 



CHAPTER X 

1888 - 1893 {continued) 

THE unceasing activities of the Bishop were not con- 
fined to his Cathedral and the country districts; 
for like his divine Model, the true Shepherd of souls, 
he knew how to bend down and accommodate himself 
to the little ones, the least and last of his flock. 

The orphans were the special object of his paternal 
tenderness, and the two asylums of the diocese always 
held the first place in his thoughts, sharing equally in 
the temporal and spiritual assistance he was able to 
give, not only during his administration, but long after 
his resignation of the See. 

If our Lord has promised an eternal reward even 
for a cup of cold water given in His name, what treas- 
ures must have been amassed in heaven for this true 
pastor of souls by his innumerable acts of charity 
towards the least of God's little ones. 

A short time before the appointment of the Rt. 
Rev. Bishop Curtis to the See of Wilmington, relate 
the Sisters of St. Francis, a Protectory for Catholic 
boys had been founded by his predecessor, the Rt. Rev. 
Thomas A. Becker. This institution was in charge of 
the Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis, Phila- 
delphia Foundation, and was located at Lovering 
Avenue and Du Pont Street, Wilmington. 

On Bishop Curtis' arrival in the diocese, the Sisters 
of St. James' Protectory desired to offer him a little 
gift. One of the orphans was sent with it to the Ca- 
thedral. The good Bishop, after expressing his grati- 
tude, immediately asked the little boy to accompany 
him to the Protector}'. The child in his innocence, an- 

134 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

swered, " Bishop, I cannot go with you, because Sis- 
ter told me to meet her at the shoe store; but I shall 
be glad to show you which way to go." The Bishop 
was much amused at the child's answer, and afterwards 
told the sisters how obedient the boy had been. Fol- 
lowing the child's directions, Bishop Curtis arrived at 
the Protectory; it was his first visit to any place in 
Wilmington. This incident occurred the day before his 
installation as Bishop; and St. James' Protectory has 
always considered it a great honor that, small as it was, 
it was the first institution to receive a visit from the 
saintly Bishop Curtis. 

This good Prelate did not forget his little flock at 
St. James'. Having noticed the poverty of the place, 
and the crowded conditions there, he at once planned to 
aid the sisters in their care of the orphans. The need 
of a more commodious building had already engaged 
the attention of his predecessor, who had ordered stone 
to be hauled to the present site of St. Ann's School, 
Wilmington, for the purpose of erecting a Home there. 
This was as far as Bishop Becker's hope was realized, 
for the erection of the building was never begun. 

Bishop Curtis, fearing for the souls of the boys, 
should they remain within the city, decided to seek a 
place outside its limits. After carefully considering 
the matter and realizing its necessity, he selected as a 
site for the new home a pleasant spot about two and a 
half miles from the Delaware river. On account of Its 
high situation, pure air and secluded position, this place 
seemed admirably adapted for an Orphans' Home. 
On a farm of nInety-sIx acres, standing well back from 
the road, Is the double brick mansion now known as 
the " Roman Catholic Male Protectory." The front 
Is graced by a beautiful lawn, while the sparkling waters 
of the Delaware arrest the attention; the vessels on 
the river can be plainly seen from any part of the lawn. 
The building having been a private dwelling, It was 
necessary that some remodelling be done. For the 

^3S 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

purpose of ascertaining just what Improvements would 
be needed, the Bishop accompanied Mother M. Agnes, 
Superior General of the Sisters, and Sister M. Rosalia, 
Superior of the Protectory, to Reybold. After the 
completion of the improvements, the boys were re- 
moved to Reybold on the eighth of August, 1888. 
During the Bishop's ten years' stay in the diocese, he 
took a lively interest in all that concerned the Protec- 
tory. He seldom failed to go down weekly to hear the 
sisters' confessions, but he would not allow the carriage 
to be sent for him, preferring to w^alk from the station. 
He often walked all the way from Wilmington, a dis- 
tance of about twelve miles. In later years he rode 
down on a bicycle. He never left the Protectory with- 
out visiting each class-room, not forgetting the baby 
tots. He always gave a short, but practical instruction 
In each room. Were there any boys who had given 
particular trouble, he would call them and speak to 
them privately. During the summer, when the boys 
were not in school, the Bishop would go out to them 
on the playgrounds. All the little ones would run to 
him and he had a pleasant w^ord for each. The chil- 
dren felt how true a friend they had In this good 
Bishop. 

During the first year that the Bishop was In the 
diocese, one of the Protectory boys, while playing with 
a cartridge, met with an accident which caused him to 
become totally blind. The Bishop always took a special 
Interest In this poor, blind boy, and at each visit showed 
himself a father to the little sufferer. When the boy 
was old enough, the Bishop himself took him to the 
Blind Asylum where he could learn a trade, and even 
then the Bishop's care of this blind orphan did not 
cease, for the boy was often visited by his beloved 
Father and friend. 

Sometimes the Bishop would come to the Protec- 
tory and remain for several days in order to allow the 
chaplain a vacation. During this time he often went 

136 



Rt. Rev. A, A. Curtis, D.D. 

out fishing, enjoying this, his favorite sport, a whole 
day at a time. " Indeed an invitation to preach in a 
country church, or to take the place of a country pas- 
tor for a Sunday or two, was far more likely to be ac- 
cepted by him, than an invitation to a great gathering 
of prelates," says one of the clergy of the Wilmington 
diocese. Once on his journey homeward from minis- 
tering to the Catholics along the eastern shores of 
Maryland and Virginia, the trains were blocked by a 
snow storm, and the Bishop had to walk to Wilming- 
ton, a distance of sixteen miles. He had nothing to 
eat all day, and it was after midnight when he reached 
home. As he wished to say Mass the next morning, 
he would partake of nothing, and three times during 
the Holy Sacrifice he was overcome by weakness. 

In the evening he preached his regular Lenten ser- 
mon, and it was to fulfil this engagement that he had 
pushed his way home. 

It was the earnest wish of the Bishop to have an 
additional building erected at the Protectory, for he 
saw the extreme necessity of such, and was always most 
solicitous for this choice portion of his flock. Although 
this hope was not realized during his time, yet in his 
first interview with Bishop Monaghan, Bishop Curtis 
spoke of this need, and asked the Bishop to supply it. 
Bishop Monaghan did erect an additional wing afford- 
ing the sisters and their charges many conveniences. 

The departure of Bishop Curtis for his new field of 
labor in 1897 cast a gloom of sadness over the Inmates 
of the Institution, for they realized that they were 
losing a kind and loving Father. 

After leaving the diocese, the Bishop continued 
until the time of his death, to show his Interest in the 
boys of St. James' Protectory. 

He also encouraged and helped the Benedictine Sis- 
ters in purchasing a new place at RIdgely, Caroline 
County, Maryland. They were affiliated to the Wil- 
mington diocese in 1887, ^^e second year of his ad- 

137 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

ministration, and he always took a lively interest in 
their large farm, aiding and assisting them by his 
advice. 

Among their recollections of the holy Bishop, the 
Benedictines relate the following incidents: "A young 
sister in our community had always expressed a great 
desire to die at the age of thirt>'-three. She was par- 
ticularly strong and robust; but, indeed, as she entered 
her thirty-third year, this dear Sister was suddenly 
stricken with pneumonia; the case proved serious and 
was soon pronounced hopeless; then temptation came, 
and the ardent longing for Heaven gave way to fear 
and anguish, until it seemed that not even resignation 
remained. The good Bishop hearing of her illness, 
visited the sick sister, and on being told of her great 
dread of death, he exclaimed in a tone of holy impa- 
tience: 'A spouse of Christ should not fear death!' 
Immediately, her Interior dispositions changed; she 
became perfectly resigned and shortly after died in the 
greatest peace and joy. 

" On another occasion the Bishop had made an en- 
gagement with us for the morning of February 14, 
1895, the day appointed for a ceremony of Religious 
Profession. Perhaps, many still remember the terrible 
blizzard of that year. Our convent is situated four 
miles from the station, from whence a beautiful wind- 
ing drive leads to the convent, but on that day all signs 
of a road were entirely blotted out, the level snow 
covered the fences, the white plain broken here and 
there by Immense drifts. No communication with the 
outer w'orld had been possible for a fortnight, so when 
the great day — ardently looked forward to by the 
virgin hearts, loneing to consecrate themselves to God 
— at last arrived, it seemed that their cherished hopes 
must be deferred. But no! our sainted Bishop was 
on his w^ay to us. Although warned before leaving 
Wilmington of the Impassable roads and blockades 
along the line, he nevertheless set out, nothing daunted, 

138 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

and reached his destination through many difficulties. 
When told at Ridgely that the roads were unbroken, 
and that no vehicle could pass, he ordered a horse and 
rode through the snow banks to our convent, and so 
fulfilled his promise." 

Such an incident but exemplifies the Bishop's own 
words to a religious: " I am not very demonstrative as 
you well know, but I may truly say that whenever a ser- 
vice is to be rendered I never fail a friend." 

The Sisters of the Visitation also found in him a kind 
friend, Father and Confessor, having enjoyed the same 
privilege under his predecessor, the Right Reverend 
Thomas A. Becker, who gave them a gracious welcome 
to the diocese in the year 1868, shortly after his instal- 
lation. The Very Reverend Patrick Reilly of Wil- 
mington had previously invited them, as he wished to 
secure a teaching community in place of the Sisters of 
Saint Joseph who had been recalled to Philadelphia. 

Although Bishop Becker could promise little or no 
material assistance to the new community, he never- 
theless took a deep interest in the success of the school, 
aiding the teachers in their preparation of class-work 
and even imparting some of his linguistic knowledge by 
giving lessons in German, Latin, etc. 

Nor did his interest cease during the eighteen years 
he governed the diocese, so that when the Right Rev- 
erend Alfred A. Curtis succeeded him, the sisters were 
fairly established and had a fine Academy, though they 
had always to work hard, and even to struggle to keep 
above debt. To quote from the Annals of the Visita- 
tion at this time: "Our dear Lord had us in His 
keeping when he gave us the Right Reverend Alfred A. 
Curtis for the shepherd of this flock. Shortly after 
his installation he made his first visit to us as our 
Bishop, and won all hearts by the gracious suavity of 
his manner. With charming simplicity he took off his 
ring and pectoral cross and handed them to each of 
us to examine while telling their history. Some of us 

139 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

remarked that our sisters of Baltimore were very much 
grle\ ed to part with him, that he had been so kind to 
them. He answered sweetly with a paternal smile, 
' They think I was kind to them, but you know I will 
do much more for you, because you are my own, you 
belong to me.' He inquired about the temporal and 
spiritual affairs of the community with great interest, 
and said he wished everything to continue according 
to the arrangements which Bishop Becker had made, 
and that he would do just what Bishop Becker had 
done. With one voice we all exclaimed, ' Then, 
Bishop, you will have to hear our confessions.' With 
a look of surprise he said, 'Hear your confessions! 
Did Bishop Becker find time to do that? Then I will 
be your Confessor until you can get some one to suit 
you better.' " 

Knowing the limited resources of the community 
the Bishop did everything in his power for its advance- 
ment, not merely in the shape of material help, but in- 
tellectually and spiritually likewise; for with his usual 
abnegation of self, he found time to participate in all 
the important festivities of the communit}% preaching, 
singing High Mass and performing the religious 
functions of Clothing, Profession, Renewal of Vows, 
as well as the Retreats and Canonical Msitations. In- 
deed, it would be impossible to give any idea of the 
kindness of this good Bishop to the communit}^ col- 
lectively and individually. 

The lively interest he felt in the affairs of the com- 
munity is depicted in the following charming little notes, 
written at various times during the first years of his 
administration. The first of these is an acknowledg- 
ment of a set of vestments received for one of his 
priests just ordained. 

Dear Rev. Mother: J""' "' '^^'^' 

I am sure our young man will be proud of the vest- 
ments, especially if he finds out whence they came. As 
140 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

for me, you are right In supposing that I want very 
little of some things. But one thing I want very much, 
and that Is prayers, such pay as I may be entitled to 
is to be made In that currency. You must never do any- 
thing for me which costs you any money, I am not In 
need of that and you have none to spare. Anything 
which costs you merely work, I shall value, but any- 
thing implying the expenditure of money on your part, 
I don't want, not that I don't value your kindness, but 
I want It shown In such wise as will benefit me most, 
as well as embarrass you all the least, so if you feel you 
owe me anything, prayer will more than pay. 
Yrs. faithfully in Xto. 

{^A. A. Curtis, Bp. of Wilmington. 

Among other good works undertaken by the Sisters 
of the Visitation was the organization of a Tabernacle 
Society,^ for the benefit of the more needy churches of 
the diocese, which attracting the attention of the vari- 
ous congregations of the town caused the convent to 
become a real center for this laudable work, which was 
blessed with marvellous success. 

The kind patronage of the Bishop Is manifested In 
the following lines In answer to the query as to what 
might be most useful. 

Dear Rev. Mother : 

I think the greatest need will be vestments, includ- 
ing copes, but If this should be too high a flight for the 
Infant society, altar-cloths will probably be the next 
most useful things. For these, you may as well meas- 
ure your own Altar, It will probably come as near 
suiting all as any other to be found. Third, some puri- 
ficators, corporals and finger towels. After them, any- 
thing else suggesting Itself to the workers. Pray for 
me. 

* This Society is still maintained by the ladies of the various parishes 
and is under the patronage of the Ursulincs, who succeeded the Sisters of 
the Visitation in their Academy on Delaware Avenue. 

141 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

In the month of July he sends his recommendation 
of the school, permitting the sisters to use his name 
in the cause, " as much as they please." 

Dear Ri:v. Mother: 

Perhaps this recommendation will be better than 
my mere name; if so, use it, and if not then you are 
free to use my name as much as you please. 

I most earnestly commend the school of the Sisters 
of the Visitation of Wilmington to all the faithful, here 
or elsewhere. I am sure that their daughters cannot 
be in better hands, either as regards the acquisition of 
secular knowledge, or as to what is so much more im- 
portant, a training in faith and piety. 

Again he writes relative to a promised retreat for 
the sisters: 

Ocean City, August 6, 1887. 
Dear Rev. Mother: 

I write to say that the friend whom I hoped to get 
for your retreat, can't act. I am sorry I need not say, 
but I think you will do as well to make the retreat of 
yourselves. Next year I may be good enough, and 
have leisure to justify me in becoming your preacher, 
especially if you all pray hard enough that I may over- 
come my long and deep hatred of preaching. 

I am now getting pretty well, indeed more nearly 
well to-day than I have been for two months. Please 
give my love to all, and don't forget or let them for- 
get how much I depend upon the prayers of the 
community. 

In December of the same year he writes to thank 
the sisters and children for their prayers, and to make 
arrangements for their Christmas Masses. 

Dear Rev. Mother : December 22, 1887. 

Will you please thank the children and the sisters 
for me. It scares me to find myself no better after so 
142 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

much prayer for me. I must be an uncommonly " hard 
case," or most certainly so many prayers would have 
me almost, or quite a saint, instead of leaving me still 
profoundly a sinner. I think you will get your three 
Masses on Xmas. day, but they may possibly be a little 
late in beginning, as both our young men will be 
needed here for the Solemn Mass at 5^^ A.M. But 
one will go to the convent as soon as that shall have 
been finished. Please present my best wishes and 
prayers to all. 

It is edifying to see the confidence and humble de- 
pendence the Bishop places in prayer, and most inter- 
esting to note the variety of original ways in which he 
asks the alms. The following little epistle, however, 
is very characteristic of his idea regarding multiplicity 
of devotions, and serves to accentuate the great sim- 
plicity of his life. In which every hour was one of prayer. 

Wilmington, January 25, 1889. 
Dear Rev. Mother : 

Fr. N and Fr. N will no doubt together do 

all required for the Guard of Honor. Very likely 
they will become members also, and choose, or take 
of your choosing, each an hour. As for myself I would 
rather not be enrolled, I am much too stupid for such 
refined devotions, and must just blunder along as I 
can. Besides, I don't like nominal things, and my 
membership would be, or would soon become nominal; 
as there is no hour which I would be certain to remem- 
ber and keep. You, yourself make your own requests 

to Frs. N N then, and content yourself, as 

to me, with praying that God's grace may, in my case, 
make up for the want of sense. 

Yours faithfully in Xt. 

i^A. A. Curtis. 

In explanation of this " refined devotion," as the 
Bishop calls it, the Visitation Convent had been made 

143 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

a Local Center for the Guard of Honor, by which 
means the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus was 
spread in a marvellous manner. Over two thousand 
members have responded to the call, and faithful to 
their Hour of Guard, are to-day zealous in propagat- 
ing devotion to that Heart which uttered this sad 
complaint: " I looked for one that would grieve with 
Me and I found none, and for one that would comfort 
Me, and there was none." 

On February 27, 1889, the Bishop writes again: 

Dear Rev. Mother: 

Better late than never, so I send you $35.00 which 
ought to have come to us before the drawing, but they 
are still in time to be of use. The Bp. of Savannah 
would not promise me to come to us earlier than Fri- 
day evening or Saturday morning. I am afraid our 
charms are losing their effect upon him. Pray for me, 
or you will have reason to think still less of me, than 
the little I now deserve. 

This little note with enclosure has reference to a 
raffle organized by the Bishop and his Vicar-General 
in behalf of the community, to liquidate their heavy 
debt, and is another example of his thoughtful interest 
in their material necessities. 

When he paid his weekly visits to the Convent for the 
confessions of the sisters, the smaller children always 
managed to escape from the class-room to get a peep 
at the Bishop, for they soon perceived what favorites 
they were, as he could not pass them by without ad- 
dressing some playful words. This was the beginning 
of a series of visits which they called confession, for 
with child-like confidence they carried to him their 
little grievances and displeasures, and it sufficed for 
the teachers to keep order in class, to threaten the with- 
144 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

drawal of this privilege; so that such strange utter- 
ances as these were heard in the class-room: "You 
have been too bad to go to confession this week," or 
" You are not good enough to go to confession." 

On his way to the convent one morning meeting 
one of the children carrying a covered basket, the 
Bishop addressed her, and when she told him she was 
taking two little kittens to the sisters he offered to help 
her carry the load. It had been raining and the cross- 
ings were muddy and slippery, so with one hand the 
Bishop conducted the little girl across the street, and 
with the other carried the basket all the way to the 
convent. 

The following series of short notes written by the 
Bishop at this time reveal a wealth of kindness, con- 
sideration and thankfulness known only to those to 
whom he felt himself indebted, and as according to 
the words of Cardinal Newman, " the true life of a 
man is in his letters," this little correspondence with 
his spiritual daughters unveils the characteristic traits 
of one who ever studied and imitated so closely the 
Heart of his divine Master. 

The sisters feeling their inability to repay their kind 
Father and Benefactor for the sacrifices he made of 
his time and person in their behalf, often begged the 
favor of doing some little work for him, and his admi- 
rable condescension to their modest request is cordially 
expressed in the following lines, which have reference 
to some collars he needed: 

Wilmington, May i, 1889. 
Dear Rev. Mother: 

I was sure I had forgotten something this after- 
noon, and this is it. I want some collars. I send you 
one rather the worse for wear, but which will serve as 
a pattern. But they need not be of linen so fine as 
that of the former ones, such linen does not wear well. 
And I don't like things that arc worn out, as soon as 

145 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

or sooner than one has become used to them. I send 
all my blessing, and in return beg every one's prayers. 

On December the 24th of the same year he returns 
thanks for their remembrance at Christmas. 

Dear Rev. Mother: December 24, 1889. 

The rochet seems to me most uncommonly fine — 
certainly more than fine enough for such a tramp as 
the present Bp. of Wilmington. I tried after I left you 
to-day to get a picture for your Xmas gift, but it was 
not to be had.^ One is promised however In time for 
New Year's day. My thanks and love to all for their 
prayers and the rest of their kindness. I hope they 
may not feel discouraged at seeing so little improve- 
ment in me as the result of their prayers. They must 
remember how much it often requires to keep one from 
getting worse. 

Whenever prevented by his round of duties from 
serving the community on the day prescribed for con- 
fession, he would acquaint the sisters In time, or ap- 
point one of his clergy to take his place. It happened 
once when the Bishop was away longer than usual that 
the sisters' confessions were overlooked, or forgotten, 
and complaining to their kind Father of this neglect, 
he promptly wrote at once, expressing his surprise and 
regret by a quizzical allusion to their long fast. 

Dear Rev. Mother: September i, 1890. 

I am very sorry you have been all so long wasting 
away in your sins. But I shall come to your relief on 
Wednesday, at which time I hope to find you all still 
living, though perhaps much attenuated. I am at a loss 

^ The picture spoken of in this little note was a photograph of himself, 
which he had promised the sisters, at their earnest solicitations. True to 
his word he sent it at the New Year, and it has been most carefully pre- 
served, as a souvenir of his condescending kindness. 

146 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D, 

to understand why you have been so neglected, and 
will see that such a long fast from confession is never 
again visited on you. My love to all — and all pray 
for me. 

Yrs. faithfully in Xt, 

i^A. A. Curtis, Bp, of Wilmington. 

Another note of thanks at Christmas of 1890: 

Wilmington, Delaware, December 24, 1890. 

Dear Rev. Mother: 

I am afraid you must have mortgaged the Convent 
over again in order to send me what I find when I re- 
turned from the Protectory this morning. I am sure 
I have never aspired to anything half as fine. I shall 
have to filibuster for a new diocese in order to get 
rid of the incompatibility between cassock and the rest. 
If fine feathers make fine birds I shall be indeed a gor- 
geous bird. I need not say how much I thank you all, 
nor tell you how much I have the welfare of all at 
heart. As the most I ask of you is just your prayers, so 
I suppose I can promise you nothing better in return 
than mine. The prayers of the man are not much, but 
those of the office will surely be worth something. 



If the spiritual welfare of his daughters was so near 
to his heart, nothing being too little or too trifling for 
his close and undivided attention, he was not less con- 
cerned when they were ill, for then he assumed the 
manner and tone of the tenderest of mothers. 

When the grippe prostrated nearly every one in the 
house, the Bishop came himself, or sent every day to 
Inquire for the sick sisters, told Mother to give them 
every alleviation and relaxation in her power, and sent 
word to the chaplain to say the daily Mass an hour 
later, so that the sisters could have more rest. 

On December 24, 1891, he writes: The veil Is ex- 
ceedingly beautiful, and the other things quite as useful. 

147 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

How, I do not know, but somehow I manage to spoil 
and wear them out very fast. I send you St. John Bap- 
tist de Rossi. Perhaps you have it already; if so, it 
will do to give away. I beg the prayers of all, and 
promise all a special memory to-morrow. 

Grippe in addition to Xmas. does not leave me much 
time, so I end. 

Yrs. faithfully in Xto. 

iJiA. A. Curtis, Bp. of JFilmington. 

At Easter of 1892 the Sisters having sent him some 
useful articles of their own making, he returns an abun- 
dance of thanks : 

Wilmington, April 16, 1892. 
Dear Rev. Mother: 

Many thanks for the collection of fine things sent 
me, and more for the affection and the prayers which 
the things, I am sure, signify. But I am afraid you 
somewhat forget that fine feathers are for fine birds, 
and it is not possible to make of me a fine bird. If any- 
thing should promise to become the better for altera- 
tion I shall tax you to make it. Please get everybody 
to do some of their very best praying for the soul of 
my old, and much esteemed friend Miss Harper, who 
died at the foot of the Cross yesterday. 

i\nd if some of the same sort of praying be done 
for me, I should be the less likely to become a repro- 
bate. My love to all, and best wishes for an Easter, 
first good, and then as happy as shall be consistent with 
its goodness. 

Again at Christmas of this year, he remembers his 
beloved daughters, speaks of his deep interest In the 
communit\^ and expresses his grateful acknowledg- 
ment of their kindness, in the following beautiful note: 

My dear Children : ^^^^^^"^^ ^^'^' '^^^' 

I have not time to-day for much writing. I had a 
tussle with the blizzard this morning on the road from 
148 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

the Aims-House to the town, and a tussle too with old 
men and women inside before I undertook to overcome 
the northwester outside. I tried to be as angelic as 
possible, but no doubt the old people did not think the 
wings or harp at all conspicuous. 

At home I have still much to do, and so must content 
myself with the shortest of Xmas. greetings, and with 
the most meagre expression of thanks for the rochet, 
etc. I think I must be specially hard on that garment. 
Anyhow, I always regard a new one as very soon to 
be needed. If not at the moment necessary. But as my 
best testimony of gratitude, I promise the community 
one of the two Masses at my disposal to-morrow. I 
think I need not protest my deep interest In you all, 
nor avouch my willingness to do for you anything in 
the world, except to preach to you. I draw the line 
there. At the same time I must say that I deem my 
good will towards you much more than repaid by the 
prayers you make, and are going to make for me, and 
mine. I give you the largest blessing I can bestow. 
Yrs. faithfully. 

His pen steeped in the sweetness of charity traced 
words of deepest sympathy and strong encouragement 
in occasions of trial and sorrow, and some of his re- 
ligious daughters received his treasured teachings with 
great reverence, reading them kneeling, for they felt 
that the Holy Spirit Inspired each of his words. Re- 
ceiving news of the death of a sister he writes: 

" At noon yesterday, I found your letter telling me 

of the death of Sister . I should not, I suppose, 

have been surprised, but I was. It goes without say- 
ing, that she shall have the benefit of everything I can 
accomplish in prayers, Masses or otherwise. She was 
always an edification to me, and was, I am sure, a still 
greater edification to the community. We must all 
thank God for the graces given her, and try as well as 
we can to follow her In her more than simple patience 
149 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

under disability and suffering. She seemed to me to 
do much more than simply to submit to the inevitable, 
rather instead to choose and embrace it. May she rest 
in peace! And I am sure she will rest in peace." 

Upon hearing of the death of an out-sister of the 
community he writes as follows: "I was very glad 

to say Mass for Sister and shall continue to pray 

for her. I liked her. She was a good soul, much bet- 
ter than she ever thought herself to be, and a great 
deal better than other people imagined her to be. I 
am sure she did a great deal of good in the town, and 
much that will never be known." 

The Bishop's characteristic humility is apparent in 
the following lines, where he speaks of the edification 
he receives from the virtue of the deceased: 

" I am so sorry that I did not again see Sister . 

I would have given up my holiday perhaps had I sup- 
posed that she would pass away in my absence. I fully 
counted upon finding her still with you when I returned, 
not that I should have been of any use; but for my 
own edification simply, I hoped to find her still among 
you. But it is better so since the Lord has thus willed." 

The Bishop strongly combated any leaning towards 
discouragement, gently detaching the soul from self, 
and firmly raising it from dejection or sadness to 
thanksgiving and confidence in God. To teach the 
soul to recognize and love her own nothingness, then 
to leave and forget self in order to dwell with God 
and in God, to be occupied only with His interests to 
the exclusion of all self interest; such was his practice 
and precept. Christ dwelling in his soul was his light 
and love, giving a heavenly unction to his simplest 
words. 

" You don't seem to be thanking the Master enough 
for the light He has given you," he said to one of his 
spiritual children, adroitly turning her from discourage- 
ment and self-introspection to the sight of truth and 
goodness in God. " This is the very first return to be 
150 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

made. I don't mean that you should feel thankful ; to 
render thanks and to feel thankful are two things by 
no means always coinciding; one signifies little — the 
other everything. And certainly we should by faith 
and main strength make ourselves see that there is no 
good but truth and what comes of truth, and that of 
all truth none Is more necessary than the truth as to 
ourselves. Try to be thankful first then, and next aim 
to become even glad of the recognition of your own 
nothingness. And if you genuinely try to be thankful 
for a better sight of your own self, you will not fret 
or chafe under the recognition of your own nothing- 
ness, but you will become patient with yourself, humble 
and full of confidence in Him, who knowing you so 
much better than even you can ever come to know your- 
self, notwithstanding has not merely borne with you, 
but heaped all blessings upon you. He having given 
so much when His goodness was less appreciated can 
but give more still when you begin to see better the 
greatness of His love towards you." 



151 



CHAPTER XI 

1893 - 1896 

TX the fifth year of the Bishop's administration of 
-^ the diocese he was consulted regarding the prelimi- 
nary steps to be taken for establishing a Convent of 
the Visitation of exact observance, according to the 
original idea of its Holy Founders, Saints Francis de 
Sales and Jane de Chantal, where no provision is made 
lor teaching. 

With this object in view he made several journeys 
into other dioceses, consulted eminent Ecclesiastics, 
and laid the proposition before those in authority; for 
that disinterested zeal peculiar to great souls made him 
refrain from mentioning his own community of the 
\'isitation in connection with so important an under- 
taking. Knowing the desires of the sisters and ap- 
preciating their untiring efforts to provide a means of 
support during the twenty-five years they had been in 
the diocese, naturally his mind reverted to them. Fi- 
nally when his efforts proved unsuccessful elsewhere, 
and he was modestly asked, if he could not find a 
little corner in his diocese. " Gladly will I become 
your agent," he replied, " and do everything in my 
power to make the work a success." When questioned 
afterwards as to why he had apparently maintained so 
much indifference regarding its establishment under his 
jurisdiction, while encouraging the work elsewhere, he 
replied, " Well I did not feel free to act, and thus pos- 
sibly stand in the way of the Will of God, until a more 
explicit avowal was made to me." 

The Bishop was an infallible advocate of religious 
discipline, and a firm upholder of its strict observance, 
152 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

and now that he was to take the work in hand, his in- 
domitable courage and persevering zeal made him fear- 
less in the face of opposition and difficulties, even to 
open criticism. After eighteen months of anxious solic- 
itude, indefatigable labors and constant prayer, he had 
the happiness of seeing the obstacles removed, and the 
work of the establishment begun. To quote from the 
Annals of the Convent: " How many times in the past 
had the dear Bishop told us that God would hear our 
prayers, and that although humanly speaking there 
was no prospect of a Monastery, God never refused the 
petitions of those who prayed earnestly, and made 
good use of the graces offered them, and that in His 
own good time He would give us all that was neces- 
sary for the exact observance of our holy Rule." The 
Bishop always added: " God does not ask impossibil- 
ities of you, my dear children, and although you have 
not the material surroundings for exact observance, 
you desire it; you have the spirit, and in time God will 
grant you all you ask of Him." 

Realizing the necessity of spiritual assistance in an 
undertaking of such importance, and wishing to con- 
form in everything to the desires of our holy Founders, 
seconded by our Bishop, we applied to our holy Source, 
at Annecy, for the requisite assistance. 

Indeed the Bishop was the first to accede to this pro- 
posal, as a letter written by him at the very moment 
he consented to accept the work, will prove. 

Washington, D. C. 
My dear Reverend Mother: 

First, write at once to Annecy and ask for the 
Mother to retire in May, asking for her as long as she 
can be spared, urge the matter with all your might. I 
enclose a note from myself which you can send with 
your letter. I think we may now consider your trans- 
fer and your reduction to the strict observance as 

^53 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

settled. But don't say anything save to those who 
already know of the matter till I see you. Finally, pray 
tor me, and for all the clerg\' of the diocese. We be- 
gin our retreat, Monday week. Pray too for our en- 
terprise, but don't talk of it, save to our Lord who 
never tells secrets. 

Yrs. faithfully in Xt. 

^A. A. Curtis, Bp. of Jf'ilmington. 

The Bishop lost no time in procuring a suitable place 
in his diocese for the erection of the new Monaster}', 
and the present site on Gilpin and Bayard avenues in 
Wilmington was purchased, plans and specifications 
for the Convent were drawn up, and the work of the 
building begun. On the 30th of June in the following 
year, he presided at the installation of the new Supe- 
rioress from Annecy, Mother Marie Alexandrine de 
Butler,^ and ever true to his word, he supported, up- 
held and encouraged this holy undertaking during the 
rest of his life. He well understood that such a tran- 
sition as the community had made could not be accom- 
plished without great suffering. By his wisdom, pru- 
dence and fatherly devotion he smoothed the way, 
rendering the souls desirous and capable of the greater 
good which God was preparing for them. He made 
it a duty not to leave his Episcopal cit\' during many 
weeks, that he might be, not only the Father, but also 
the Guardian Angel of each of his daughters, and 
with a delicacy similar to that of those heavenly spirits, 
he encouraged, consoled and made plain, that so great 
a blessing as the primitive spirit of a Religious Order, 
must be purchased at the rate of the greatest sacrifices. 

* As this book goes to press God has called to Himself, July 22, 1913, the 
great and noble soul of Mother Marie .AJeiandrine de Butler. Ever full of 
zeal for the glor>- of God and the good of souls, Mother Marie .■Meiandrine 
seeing the benefit already derived from the Instructions of the saintly 
Bishop Curtis, gave an obedience to one of her daughters to prepare them 
for publication. These form the second part of this biography, having been 
deemed by this zealous Superioress too precious to withhold from the 
many souls, who would doubtless reap from them fruits of salvation and 
sanctificatioa. 

154 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

Replying to one who at that time spoke of her weak- 
ness in the face of sacrifice, he said: " Yes, you make 
a great renunciation, but remember that our Lord re- 
wards good with higher good, and hence rewards one 
act of renunciation with a call to a higher act of the 
same kind. The renunciation made is not equal there- 
fore to the renunciation to come." As a Director of 
souls the Bishop was in his element, so well did he 
understand from his own personal experience the inte- 
rior life of union with God, and the state of purifica- 
tion through which the soul must pass before she can 
attain her end. 

A religious deeply versed In the Science of the 
Saints, addressing the community spoke thus: "What 
shall I say of your holy Director? Although your spir- 
itual graces are incalculable, you might include them all 
in this single fact: God has given you a Bishop ac- 
cording to His own Heart, a Bishop formed by Him- 
self In the zenith of His divine Charity, for the 
work which His love had resolved to accomplish in 
Wilmington." 

The Bishop ever continued to be the protector, guide 
and even Cyrenian of the community, deeming it the 
greatest privilege that his mortal remains should one 
day be laid to rest within the sacred precincts of Its 
cloister, as he himself signified when acceding to the 
request, that after death he would, " as the Founder," 
accept a resting place in the convent cemetery. " You 
will gain nothing," he said, " but I shall gain much, 
for I shall have the prayers of the sisters, which Is all 
I ask." 

It was not until the summer of 1893 that the new 
Monastery of the Visitation was completed, and on 
July the 31st of that year the translation of the com- 
munity took place. In the meantime, the Bishop had In- 
vited the Ursullne Nuns of Bedford Park, New York, 
to succeed the Sisters of the Visitation In their school, 
and to this end had induced his devoted daughters to 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

resign their Academy on Delaware Avenue, Wilming- 
ton, in favor of these teachers, who have since con- 
ducted a boarding and day school for young ladies with 
success. On August the 3rd the altar was conse- 
crated and the chapel dedicated to St. Joseph. Pon- 
tifical Mass was sung by the Bishop, and the sermon 
for the occasion preached by Rev. Fr. Haugh, S. J., 
who took for his text: "Holiness becometh Thy 
House, O Lord." 

On the same day strict enclosure was established and 
the sisters began the exact observance of their holy 
Rule, In which they were seconded by their saintly 
Spiritual Father, the Bishop, who made the first Ca- 
nonical visit of the Monastery in the month of Septem- 
ber, of that year. Taking for his discourse the words 
of the Apocalypse, " Behold, I make all things new," 
he made them admirably applicable to the sisters In 
their new retreat, deeply touching their hearts with the 
unction of his words. 

It may be of interest to reproduce here a portion of 
his beautiful exhortation: 

" Behold, I make all things new." Apoc. xxl. 5. 

" My dear children, we do not gain our crown by 
patience exactly, but by perseverance, for our Lord 
Himself tells us that, ' he who perseveres to the end 
shall be crowned.' As one who would serve his coun- 
try, make great sacrifices, or perform heroic deeds, and 
In the end betray his country, all that went before his 
treason would be obliterated, and would only make his 
treachery more odious. 

" There are many good people who have a mistaken 
idea of perseverance. After making good resolutions. 
If they fail sometimes, they think they have no perse- 
verance. Perseverance does not mean success, and no 
failures. God does not expect this of us, nor does He 
want It, because It would not be good for us, for It 
might lead us Into pride, and none of us know how 
much pride there is in us, and It 's not likely we shall 

156 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

know, until we have been burned for it a long time in 
Purgatory. 

" Exterior perseverance is not sufficient, for there 
are some people, who go through their duties and ex- 
ercises from doggedness, too proud to be beat. If I 
want to go to the country there might be mountains, 
there may be rivers in the way, morasses to cross; if 
I should oscillate for a while, even fall or lose the 
straight way for a time, but still keep my purpose in 
view and gain it in the end, then I persevere. To per- 
severe, does not mean that we are never to make any 
mistakes, never commit any faults and never fall ; you 
all know the wise answer of the old negro, when he 
was asked what was the difference between a good man 
and a bad one, since the Scripture says, * The just 
man falls seven times a day ' : ' Oh, the good man gets 
up after his fall, but the bad one is willing to remain in 
his sin.' 

" Now, how can we persevere? May God help me 
a poor sinner, you know more about this than I do, for 
the more I have thought about perseverance, the less I 
feel able to speak about it, but this I will say, I do 
not think any one who thinks profoundly can speak 
easily. Some can make use of the thoughts of others, 
and speak of them with great facility, but I cannot. But 
I will tell you what I mean, and you can think it out 
for yourselves, perhaps you have already done so 
better than I have myself, for though I have tried to 
think it out for you, I have not had sufficient time to 
do so, at least to put it into words. 

" It may be a crank of my own, but I don't think it is, 
that any truth taken and studied throughout, thor- 
oughly from top to bottom, from bottom to top, be- 
comes always new. This is what our Lord meant when 
He said : ' Unless you become like little children, you 
cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven.' 

" What is it that gives that freshness and charm to 
little children, which makes them so attractive? It is 

157 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

because everything is new to them, they are always 
learning something, and they are always interested in 
what they see, because it is new to them. So it is with 
us, when we take any point of truth, study it, live in it, 
live up to it; it reveals always new lights, it becomes 
always new, each day we see something we did not see 
before. 

*' This is what spiritual writers mean when they say 
there is no standing still, and the Holy Scripture says: 
' I make all things new.' Observe that our Lord does 
not put it in the past or future tense, but in the pres- 
ent: ' I make all things new.' Take for instance our 
Lord's presence, not around you, or about you, but in 
you, in your bodies, in your souls; or His presence in 
the Blessed Sacrament, or in the study of yourselves; 
not in your sins of the past — from them you learn 
nothing — but study yourselves in the present moment, 
and see what revelations God will give you. 

" Take this thought of the presence of God within 
you, not only to the choir, to meditation, but take it 
everywhere, in every act of your daily life, and thus 
you will make your life new. It is the custom of those 
who give Retreats to clergymen to appeal to their 
feelings, by saying: 'Think of your first Mass, of 
the fervor you had then,' and I must say that In many 
cases it seems to be very efficacious, though for my own 
part, I never could understand why they should go back 
to their first Mass, for they ought to be able to say 
after each Mass, This Mass is the best Mass I have 
ever said. I have offered to God more for souls this 
day than I have ever done before ; more love and more 
zeal for the conversion of souls; I have sacrificed to 
Him more of my own will. Although all this will be 
done without feeling, without the same warmth of 
heart, or the same effusion of tears, it will however be 
the continual renewing of our good will, and an ad- 
vance in the way which leads to perseverance. 

'' God can take from you all things but one. He can 

158 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

take your money, your possessions, even your life, but 
your will He cannot take ; from this one thing He has 
debarred Himself — but this one thing we can give 
to Him. Now I leave you to think out this one point; 
maybe some other time I shall be able to think it out 
with you, or for you, but to-day I have not time." 

On a similar occasion, a year or two later, the Bishop 
exhorted his children " to pray for the grace to love 
to be nothing." Growing eloquent with his favorite 
theme, he spoke thus: 

" There is a thought that has been in my mind, It 
has always been there, but more so of late. It may be 
an error, or a notion of my own, like many others, but 
I don't think it Is. I don't see enough of that real, 
earnest striving to reach sanctity by the only means 
by which It can be reached; and to me It is the supreme 
test of sanctity; It Is not to wish to progress in sanctity 
by this means or that, it Is not to have this virtue or 
that, it Is not to pray well, nor even to have great 
zeal In the service of our Lord; for It seems to me 
that half the time these good works and great desires 
are nine parts for self, and one part for God — but It 
Is to be simply nothing for God, and to be sweetly con- 
tent to be nothing, and to be recognized as nothing, 
to be treated as nothing by others, to be set aside as use- 
less, and under this, to be sweetly, patiently, resignedly 
content. 

" But there is a step further, It Is not only to know 
you are nothing, but to be willing that others shall take 
you at your word and treat you as nothing, and to re- 
joice that others are something, and that you are noth- 
ing, and to be sweetly content to be so. But this Is to 
die and we don't want to die, and the longer we live 
the less Inclined we are to die, and the older and more 
useless we are, the more necessary we think we are. 
Here we see an old man all worn out, who can do 
nothing, clinging to life, waiting to do something yet. 

" People are not content unless they are doing some- 

159 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

thing, and yet what was the greatest work that was 
ever done — the Incarnation when God became noth- 
ing — and what is He doing here in the Blessed Sacra- 
ment so still and silent, while others around Him are 
busy — striving, working to promote His glory? 

"And what did Mary do that made her so lovely? 
She was nothing, she was content to be nothing, willing 
to remain in the house, cooking, scrubbing and wash- 
ing, while the Apostles went out in the world preaching, 
converting and making a noise. And what did Joseph 
do? He was nothing and content to be nothing. Chil- 
dren, pray for this grace, to love to be nothing." 

On the 23d of July, in the year 1896, the Sisters of 
the Visitation learned from a newspaper report that 
their holy director had resigned his See. He had 
heard their confessions the day before, and had not 
even hinted at the possibility of such a change. Could 
it be that he would leave without even preparing them 
for the awful blow? Several days were spent between 
hope and fear, and finally one of his devoted daughters 
wrote to ascertain the truth, and received this reply: 

WiLMiNXTON, Delaware, July 27, 1896. 

Your letter came into my hands a little while ago. 
I don't think I have contradicted myself. I always 
said I would never renounce jurisdiction here to accept 
It elsewhere, and I say just the same now. I have 
always said, too, that I would never retain a place I 
found myself clearly Incompetent to fill. I am incom- 
petent, and all the while am becoming more and more 
incompetent to furnish what Wilmington has the right 
to demand, and Is In duty bound to demand of its 
Bishop. I have failed, and I am falling more and more 
all the time, particularly In that most Indispensable — 
the throat. I never gave myself more than ten years 
of service. T knew from the first that the Lord, or 
the Pope would free me at the end of that time. 

In the beginning of this year, therefore, with the 
160 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

knowledge and consent of Father Dissez alone [his 
Director], I sent my request for a discharge. On the 
loth of June last, the Cardinal Prefect wrote me that 
my petition had been granted, with the condition that I 
go on as heretofore, till my successor shall have been 
appointed, and shall be ready to assume jurisdiction. 
This will certainly keep me till Xmas, and perhaps 
some months longer. Now, as to you in particular, 
I shall be able to do almost as much as ever for you. 
I shall remain your Director in general, and your Con- 
fessor, at least extraordinary, unless my successor for- 
bid, and that is not likely. 

You know I have to earn a living, for self and my 
sisters, and the Cardinal, for the sake of the use he can 
make of me, has promised me a living. I am to stay 
with him and take any functions he may wish to assign 
me. But I am to have no jurisdiction, and upon purely 
private agreement between ourselves I am to help 
him as he wishes and as I can, in return for the sup- 
port he grants me. 

My love to all, they must now pray that a better 
man may follow me. 

Yours faithfully in Xto., 

i^A. A. Curtis, Ad-Ap. of Wilm'mgton. 

Could there be anything more touchingly beautiful 
than the true humility which pervades every line of this 
letter? Is not the whole action of the Bishop the 
simple putting in practice, his exhortation at the late 
Canonical visit? Recall his own words: " To me the 
supreme test of sanctity is to be simply nothing for 
God; to be recognized as nothing, to be treated by 
others as nothing, to be set aside as useless, and to 
rejoice that others are something, while you arc 
nothing." 

As Administrator Apostolic of the diocese he was 
*' to go on as heretofore," he said, *' till my Successor 
shall have been appointed and shall be ready to assume 
i6i 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

jurisdiction." For another year then he continued to 
work, keeping himself more and more hidden while 
weighed down by the oppressive labors, which seemed 
to multiply as the time drew near for his departure. 

Although he was to lay down the arms of jurisdic- 
tion he would still glory in working for his Master. If 
he was to change his field of action, there was plenty of 
work awaiting him in the adjoining field. 



162 



CHAPTER XII 

1896 

TT was in the heyday harvest of the Bishop's work," 
•*- says the Chronicler ^ of the diocesan records, 
" when everybody was looking forward confidently to 
many more years of its prosperous continuance, and 
even if possible, its greater increase, the news was 
flashed over the diocese and the country, that Bishop 
Curtis had resigned; and was now only * Titular 
Bishop of Echinus.' Clergy and people were simply 
paralyzed. The secret was so well kept that it was 
known only to two individuals before the newspapers 
had announced it, namely, Bishop Curtis and his 
Spiritual Director. 

" Every one regretted it, most of us looked upon it 
as a calamity, and there was not a single individual with 
a ray of hope of its recall, for it was so like Bishop 
Curtis. The work he had accomplished in every field 
of duty in a very few years, silently, unostentatiously, 
but none the less perseveringly and successfully, was 
much more than is allotted many Bishops to do in a 
lifetime, with all the advantages of large resources and 
extensive territory. 

'' In less than one decade of years the clergy of the 
diocese were doubled in numbers, the list of clerical 
students was increased from nothing to twelve; three 
new churches were added to the city of Wilmington, 
and three others, including St. Peter's, St. Mary's and 
Sacred Heart, were renovated and remodelled, the 
magnificent Convent of the Visitation was built and 

^ Dedication Souvenir of St. Peter's Cathedral. 

163 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

endowed; Ursuline Nuns were introduced at the Acad- 
emy of the Visitation on Delaware Avenue; the attend- 
ance at parochial schools doubled; several new and 
elegant school buildings were erected, including the in- 
stitution for colored children at Eleventh and French 
streets; other houses were added to the diocese, such 
as the Mother House of Benedictine Nuns at Ridgely, 
Maryland, the Catholic Male Protectory at Reybold 
and the Industrial School or Colony at Clayton; twelve 
new churches were built in the diocese outside the city 
of Wilmington, and several priests' houses, a number 
of church edifices were enlarged and improved; the 
amount paid for new buildings and in extinguishment 
of debts on others is somewhat more than one million 
dollars. 

" These are practical results which make up a very 
creditable roll of honor, yet are but the shadow of the 
deep and abiding interest in the spiritual welfare of the 
diocese, the results of which cannot be estimated by 
any earthly standards of number, weight or measure. 
The Annual Retreats, Synods and Conferences, the fre- 
quent missions to our own people in every parish, and 
uninterrupted Missionary Work in behalf of Non- 
Catholics; all this Apostolic work, a reminiscence of 
that of olden times and of our immortal pioneers, 
joined to a noble leadership of holy life and unbounded 
erudition, of untold self-denial and saintly love for 
souls, all this, and much more than a volume can de- 
tail, must have reaped a harvest of good to souls and 
of glory to God which only the intelligence of Angels 
can comprehend, and the goodness of the God of 
Angels sufficiently record." 

All sorts of rumors were now current as to the pos- 
sible cause of the Bishop's resignation, but these were 
one and all set at rest, in the farewell address he made 
before his departure from Wilmington. It was given 
at the Cathedral on Sunday, May 2, 1897, one week 
before the installation of his worthy successor, the Rt. 

164 




^ 



■I 



^ 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

Rev. J. J. Monaghan, of which the following is a re- 
production in part: 

" In making the present explanation of, and apology 
for myself, I am giving the people of Wilmington such 
a proof of esteem and affection as I have never in all 
my life bestowed upon any other people. As a Catho- 
lic I held one only, as a Protestant four places before 
taking charge of Wilmington. All these places I left 
when the time came without even mentioning in the 
pulpit that I was going. But it is not uncommon that 
the last child of many is more loved than any of the 
children preceding, and hence it is not strange, if like 
Jacob, I especially favor you, the children of my old 
age. 

" At the same time if you find me lame and halty in 
this, the single farewell address of all my life, you must 
not be surprised. What one does but once in a life- 
time, he cannot be expected to do well. Let us then 
without further preface attack the question which I 
propose to answer: 'Why do I quit Wilmington?' 
It may be well then, if I first discuss something which 
may be supposed to have impelled, but in fact did not 
impel me to ask and find relief from the charge of this 
diocese. 

" First, then, I do not go because I prefer to reside 
elsewhere. I know and am sure that I can never be 
better off or more content anywhere than I am in Wil- 
mington. Besides, all places are to me now nearly the 
same. Again, I did not ask for a release because I 
was disappointed in and disgusted with the clergy of 
this diocese. I have always said and still say that the 
clergy of Wilmington will not suffer in the comparison 
with the clergy of any other diocese in the country. I 
have the respect of them all, and in most, if not in all, 
I find affection as well as respect. 

*' As I am not, and never have been at war with the 
clergy of Wilmington, still less am I disappointed in 
the laity. Not only at home, but everywhere else, I 
165 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

have never mentioned them save to express my admira- 
tion of their docility, and my surprise at their large and 
persevering generosity. I have uniformly said, and I 
now repeat, that I would not exchange them for any 
other people on the face of the earth. Once more, I 
do not go hence because I have found myself frustrated 
as to my designs and expectations, and because I regard 
my work here as an utter failure. On the contrary 
more has been done during my episcopate than I ever 
ventured to promise myself would be accomplished. 
As my predecessor, by his signal ability, and his long 
and hard labor, made It possible that I should effect 
something, so under God, I have, I trust, rendered 
practicable that my successor may effect a great deal 
more than I have done or could do. So much then as 
to some of the things most likely to be falsely imagined 
causes of my retirement. 

" Now the real cause, first, age. I am nearer sev- 
enty than sixty. I am far down the other side of the 
divide and every day accelerates the descent. In par- 
ticular, my throat Is simply and irretrievably worn out. 
After a long rest I may be able to preach now and 
then, but I am not equal to the Incessant public speak- 
ing required of all Bishops, and very especially neces- 
sary to the Bishop of Wilmington. 

" Next, I am older in soul than I am In body. I for- 
get and become bewildered. I am no more fit for any- 
thing save to ensconce myself in some still nook, there 
to think a little, pray a little and prepare thus for the 
death which cannot now be long coming. 

" ' But why cannot you stay and take things more 
easily?' If I attempted this I am sure you would all 
be very patient with me, and very far from accusing 
me of neglecting my duties. But In the first place I 
simply cannot stay here and spare myself. Next, I 
ought not to do this, even were I equal to doing it. If 
it were a question of myself or no one at all in my 
place, of course, I should stay with you, as perhaps I 
i66 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

might be somewhat better than nobody at all. But this 
is not the question. It is shall I stay, thereby barring 
out one in every way more efficient, or shall I regard the 
diocese more than myself, and so go whither I shall not 
be absolutely useless, at the same time making room 
for a successor, fully and happily, I am sure, meeting 
the needs of the diocese? 

" It would be very good in you to let me stay, and 
want me to stay, having become what I am, but it would 
be bad in me to use your patience and your affection to 
the injury of the whole diocese. Therefore my part 
is plainly to go. But be sure that whithersoever I go 
I shall carry my Interest in you, my gratitude to you 
and my duty to pray for you, and besides my obliga- 
tion to further the welfare of Wilmington in every way 
I may in the future find within my power, and in return 
I beg that you will all continue to pray for me, living 
and dead." 

In these few words we have a vivid portraiture of 
Bishop Curtis' character and preeminent virtue, given 
unconsciously by himself. 

No one who knew the holy Bishop could doubt that 
humility was the motive which prompted his resigna- 
tion. Even Protestants were struck with this, and a 
prominent non-Catholic journal in an editorial com- 
menting on the " Resignation of Bishop Curtis to be- 
come again a simple parish priest," used these words: 
" This desire of the humble-minded Delaware eccle- 
siastic could only have Its parallel in a general, who 
would ask to be reduced to the ranks, on the ground 
that there he could better serve his country; but neither 
in secular nor religious life do we recall actually a case 
corresponding to that of Bishop Curtis. He must in- 
deed be a man of God, who seeks to lay up treasures in 
Heaven rather than on earth." ^ 

On the eve of the Consecration of his Successor the 
Bishop paid his farewell visit to the Sisters of the Visi- 
* New York Sun. 
167 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

tation, in company with His Eminence, Cardinal Gib- 
bons, the Bishop Elect and several Ecclesiastics, who 
were to take part in the ceremony on the following day. 
Showing traces of the struggle so recently endured, the 
Bishop looked careworn, weary and ill, but always for- 
getful of self, he had words of comfort and encourage- 
ment for those who found it hard to give him up, and 
replied to all inquiries: '' I am quite well, only an old 
man." 

One of the sisters said to him: " Bishop, why don't 
you stay here? Bishop Monaghan would be so glad 
to have you, and you could help him so much." The 
good Bishop laughingly replied: " My child, a hand- 
some young Bishop like Bishop Monaghan won't want 
an old fellow like me knocking around." An aged 
sister grieving over the resignation and departure of 
her holy director, exclaimed: "Bishop, we never 
thought you would give us up." He answered: " My 
child, I am an old man, and worn out," upon which the 
sister interrupted him and said: "Oh Bishop, that 
was not the cause of your resignation, I know all about 
it." " You know all about it! What do you know? " 
he inquired. " I know this. Bishop, that for eleven 
years you have been trying to teach us to be nothing, to 
wish to be nothing, to love to be nothing, and you re- 
member last year, that one thought was the sum and 
substance of all your instructions and exhortations, 
and now you want to practise what you have preached, 
that is the whole secret of your resignation." 

The Bishop bowed down his head and after a mo- 
ment's silence said: " Yes, my child, you are right, that 
had something to do with it, but that in itself would 
not have been a sufficient reason to ask for my dis- 
charge. I am old and worn out, and so Is my throat." 

How often he had been heard to give utterance to 
these pathetic words, and now when repeating them on 
this occasion he appeared like a venerable old patri- 
arch, with head bent down as If in deep thought, and 
i68 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

living far above this world, his heart, mind and con- 
versation in Heaven. 

To the great edification of his worthy successor, the 
good Bishop asked to be allowed to continue serving 
the community, and in speaking of it later to an emi- 
nent Ecclesiastic, Bishop Monaghan remarked: " The 
Sisters of the Visitation are blessed in having so holy 
a director, and the only request he made when leaving 
the diocese was to continue as their Confessor." 

Writing to the Sisters shortly after his installation 
he said: " It gives me great pleasure to learn from the 
saintly Bishop Curtis, that in leaving Wilmington, he 
will not give up the kind interest he has always mani- 
fested in the welfare of your community." 

Even as he had eleven years previous despoiled him- 
self of all his little personal belongings in favor of his 
friends when leaving Baltimore, so now the holy 
Bishop would retire from the Episcopal See of Wil- 
mington divested of everything, save his books. He 
would not allow the generosity of his devoted people 
to be taxed for his personal benefit, although earnest 
endeavors were made to give some public demonstra- 
tion of respect and gratitude to their self-sacrificing 
shepherd. 

The Congregation of St. Peter's succeeded, how- 
ever, in taking up a collection quietly, by which it was 
enabled to present the Bishop with a magnificent 
Episcopal outfit, which he carried with him to Balti- 
more and treasured as a souvenir of his devoted 
people, having it carefully preserved in a special 
apartment at the Cathedral, and under his personal 
supervision. 

He remained in Wilmington for the Consecration 
of his successor, taking part in the ceremony, after 
which he would have slipped away unknown to all, had 
not the vigilant eye of the devoted Vicar-General kept 
a close watch on his proceedings. Knowing well trom 
eleven years' intimacy the favorite proclivities of his 
169 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

saintly Superior, he followed him to the station, and 
insisted upon accompanying him to Baltimore. 

The loth of May in the year 1897 was a day of 
mourning for the diocese of Wilmington when the 
venerated Bishop left the city for his future home. 
" Ever true to his promise he kept up an active and 
generous interest in the welfare, spiritual and tempo- 
ral, of the Wilmington diocese, continuing to visit St. 
Peter's and preaching occasionally to the people, at 
the request of the Rector. He distributed gifts and 
spiritual favors and rendered substantial assistance to 
the country missions. A large school, a sisters' home 
and two pastoral residences w^ere the gifts of his 
munificence. 

Several of his friends blessed with the gift of for- 
tune were happy to have their benefactions pass through 
his trusted hand. It was with peculiar satisfaction that 
the Bishop distributed these revenues, and in the dis- 
charge of this pleasant duty, he always showed es- 
pecial discretion and prudence, seeking out the most 
needy, the bashful poor who had seen better days, 
and managing affairs with so much delicacy, that the 
recipients of his bounty seemed rather to be doing him 
a favor. 

None were dearer than the " children of his old 
age," as he loved to call those who belonged to the 
Wilmington Diocese. This affection was seen strongly 
dominating him on his death-bed, when too weak and 
prostrated to receive the numberless visitors who came 
for a last word or blessing, he gave strict orders that 
not one of the Wilmington priests should be refused, 
saying: *' I must see them, they are my boys." 

^ " Bishop Monaghan did not come as a stranger 
to Wilmington, for he had no sincerer or warmer friend 
to greet and welcome, to assist and comfort him, than 
his Right Reverend predecessor. In this welcome, he 
was joined by the clergy of the household, the reli- 

1 Dedication Souvenir. 
170 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

gious, the laity of St. Peter's, and by the whole diocese, 
clerical and lay. Some of the clergy were his class- 
mates, and others made their studies in the same Semi- 
nary. It may be said in truth that the diocese has con- 
tinued to prosper, from the first day of his prudent and 
benevolent administration." 

The new Bishop retained the faithful Vicar-General 
in his Office, also leaving him Rector of St. Peter's. In 
1905 the old Pro-Cathedral, aftei* being remodelled 
and greatly beautified, was dedicated on October 5th, 
at which the Bishop Titular of Echinus presided, com- 
ing from Baltimore to take part in the ceremony of 
old St. Peter's. Subsequently Bishop Monaghan ob- 
tained from Rome, for its Rector, the Very Rev. John 
A. Lyons, V. G., the honor of Domestic Prelate to His 
Holiness Pope Pius X, with the title of Monsignor. 
The venerable priest, his snow-white hair contrasting 
with the Roman purple, is a striking figure in his own 
sanctuary, and in others, where he sometimes appears 
on days of feast and ceremony. 

Bishop Monaghan took upon himself, for a time, 
the pastoral direction of St. Paul's Church and congre- 
gation. In two years the heavy debt had almost dis- 
appeared, a fine home for the Franciscan Sisters was 
erected and the school rebuilt. This work was one 
that required signal energy, ability and tact; circum- 
stances having greatly complicated affairs. Bishop 
Curtis was in admiration at the success of his Rt. Rev. 
successor, and said, with his characteristic humility 
and directness: "Indeed he has accomplished what 
I never could have done. I assure you. Bishop Mona- 
ghan is no jelly-fish! " 

Many other good works show how abundantly God 
has blessed his zeal; new parishes, churches and 
schools, not to speak of the growth of Catholicity in 
the diocese. The Bishop has secured the services of 
the Little Sisters of the Poor, for which application had 
been made by Bishop Curtis, and he purchased for the 
171 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

aged poor a comfortable home with ample grounds. 
He also seconded the wishes of his holy predecessor in 
allowing the good Oblate Fathers of St. Francis de 
Sales, to live in community and open a college in the 
diocese. A suitable Episcopal residence with private 
chapel has been organized within late years, thus 
greatly facilitating the labors of the Episcopate. 



172 



CHAPTER XIII 

1897 - 1907 

T AM receiving an Angel into my household, who 
-■- will dispense graces on every side." Such were 
the words of Cardinal Gibbons when referring to 
Bishop Curtis' return to Baltimore. For his part, the 
Bishop gave himself up to be used according to the 
good pleasure of the Cardinal, for the benefit of the 
Archdiocese. The humble Prelate laid down for him- 
self even stricter rules of life, from which he was never 
to depart. At the Cardinal's residence, he chose a 
room in the third story, notwithstanding the remon- 
strances of His Eminence and the priests of his house- 
hold, who had prepared a more suitable apartment for 
the Bishop. Situated in the southeast corner of the 
building, just under the roof, this room was to be his 
place of holy seclusion, where he would spend the time 
left free from active duties in reading, writing, study- 
ing and praying. One of the clergy of the Cardinal's 
household, who admired and appreciated the Bishop's 
spirit of self-abnegation, tells, how he collected some 
scanty furniture from the lumber room nearby, and 
improvised a book-case from three old peach crates. 

Many hours out of the twenty-four were passed In 
the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, and he fre- 
quently, if not habitually, rose during the night, crossed 
the yard that separates the house from the Cathedral, 
and entered the Sanctuary where several hours were 
spent near the Tabernacle. There he drew in long 
draughts of the life-giving spirit, which he again gave 
forth to all with whom he came In contact. One bitter 
cold night, when freezing sleet had made walking al- 
most impossible, he was seen crawling on hands and 

173 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

knees over the icy way that led to the church. In reply 
to an inquiry as to how he passed those many hours in 
the Sanctuary, he answered simply: "Oh, I just stay 
there like a dog at the feet of my Master! " A truly 
characteristic answer, worthy of one so well versed in 
the heavenly art of prayer. His work continued to be, 
much of the time, of a missionary character, often re- 
quiring long and fatiguing journeys throughout the 
area of the large Archdiocese; for, although having 
no jurisdiction, as he joyously remarked, he was never- 
theless to exercise the functions of a Bishop of the 
Church, preaching, confirming, ordaining and conse- 
crating. The Cardinal treated the Bishop with the ut- 
most consideration, placing him on his right hand at 
table, and showing him at all times the greatest kind- 
ness, while the Bishop appreciated to the full the be- 
nevolent and lovable character of his Superior. It can- 
not be said that Bishop Curtis was by nature dependent; 
on the contrary, a certain freedom and independence 
of mind and action were a part of his very being; yet, 
through long years of struggle and effort, such real 
humility had been acquired, that in later life, de- 
pendence and submission were marked characteristics. 
" To depend and submit to the will of another is my 
safeguard and delight," he said, " for then I am sure 
of doing the will of my Master." 

The Cardinal made him Vicar-General of the Arch- 
diocese, and the duties of this onerous charge were 
faithfully fulfilled by the Titular Bishop of Echinus, 
until a few days before his death. When not on his 
missions, the Bishop celebrated Mass in the Cathedral 
at six o'clock, the holy Sacrifice being always preceded 
by his usual long preparation. 

One who received ordination at his hands, writes 
thus: "To see the Bishop say Mass and administer 
Holy Communion was a sight never to be forgotten; 
his faith, his reverence, his devotion were so saintlike, 
as to inspire a sentiment akin to awe." He was alone 

174 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

with his God, bending low in love and adoration. " I 
always begin my Mass at the same moment," he once 
said, " trying in this way, though ever so little, to imi- 
tate the unchangeableness of God." Ever a strict ob- 
server of Church laws, the Bishop took no breakfast 
during Lent, not even the small cup of black coffee 
urged upon him, and often spent part of the day 
visiting hospitals, the poor and invalid friends, who 
depended upon his counsel and comforting words; 
looking eagerly for the gentle presence, and genial 
hand-clasp of their never-failing friend, who, in his 
unostentatious way, went about doing good, leaving 
behind him blessings of hope and peace. 

The Bishop's great learning, combined with his al- 
most childlike simplicity, made him a delightful com- 
panion at the Cardinal's table, where the young priests 
took pleasure in drawing him into discussion with His 
Eminence, on difficult and varied questions. He kept 
in touch with current topics, as well as with new publi- 
cations, that he might be able to advise those who con- 
sulted him, although personally he entertained a cer- 
tain indifference for modern literature. 

When giving a rule of life to a soul whom he was 
directing in the world, he appointed a regular time 
each day, for the careful reviewing of all books that 
would fall into the hands of the children of the family, 
saying, that though the task might be tiresome, it was 
a sacred duty too often neglected by parents and guar- 
dians of the young, and one which would safeguard the 
budding minds, and prevent many sins in later life. 

The Bishop was very orderly and methodical in the 
arrangement of his affairs, and the distribution of his 
time; never appearing hurried or anxious, however 
pressing his engagements might be. From the pile of 
mail lying on his table, he would take up the letters one 
by one, just as they came to hand, without a useless 
glance; putting aside such as called for deeper thought 
or reflection, and proceeding at once to answer the less 

175 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

Important, unless the former called for immediate at- 
tention. He must have carefully read his letters over 
after writing; as erasures and slight changes of expres- 
sion sometimes appear, with an occasional word or two 
above the line. Part of his day was spent in work ap- 
pertaining to his office of Vicar-General, and in receiv- 
ing visitors on matters of moment. After dinner, taken 
at half-past one, instead of retiring to his room for an 
often much needed rest, he would go over to the Cathe- 
dral, and remain in prayer until it was time to enter 
the confessional. He was frequently seen pacing be- 
tween the pillars of the great Sanctuary, reading his 
Breviary, which he always tried to do standing, and 
with uncovered head. Even when travelling he man- 
aged to find some corner In the train, where he could 
stand to say the Divine Office, manifesting in this, as 
In every duty prescribed by holy Church, his deep rev- 
erence for God's divine laws. 

The Bishop was far from being pessimistic In 
his views, as some have thought. Although serious 
and perhaps inclined to introspection and living on 
a plane elevated above the ebb and flow of worldly 
Interests, he had nevertheless a deep fund of humor, 
and told an anecdote remarkably well; his serio- 
comic air when relating a story often provoked 
more laughter than the subject Itself. He was once 
invited to lecture on St. Patrick's day in behalf of 
a charitable cause. The Bishop was very reluctant 
to appear on the platform, but after much persuasion 
accepted the invitation, determining at the same time 
to make the affair a success, as far as lay in his 
power, and declaring it would be his last appearance as 
a Lecturer. Some days before the appointed date 
placards announcing the entertainment were posted 
throughout the city of brotherly love — " What the 
Irish know nothing about," by the Rt. Rev. A. A. Cur- 
tis. Needless to say, the hall was filled to overflowing, 
the curiosity of the Irish-American being aroused by 
176 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

the novel announcement. They were soon enlightened, 
however, for the Bishop's great store of natural his- 
tory was unfolded during an hour's talk on " snakes," 
of every description, size and color, their habits, in- 
stincts, etc., from the deadly boa-constrictor to the 
harmless little snake of our garden. The speaker re- 
tired amid the loud applause of his enthusiastic audi- 
ence, an applause which helped somewhat to cover 
the chagrin of many. " I would not have cared had 
they hissed me off the stage," the Bishop afterwards 
said, with a merry twinkle in his eye; "considering 
that the two-fold object was gained; viz., a crowded 
house and a well-filled money box." It is not generally 
known that the Bishop was also a poet, of no small 
merit — both in Latin and English verse. But all 
such work he destroyed with his own hand, commencing 
with some poems written during the civil war, which 
expressed warm sympathy with the South. He was so 
upright and so conscientiously loyal that he thought 
later such sentiments should not see the light of day. 
The Bishop always shunned notice, and studiously 
avoided whatever might draw upon him any personal 
attention. At the time of the Silver Jubilee of his 
Ordination, he left town and passed a few days in a 
quiet country place, where he said Mass and had time 
for undisturbed prayer and recollection. It must not 
be imagined, however, that the Bishop had no spiritual 
trials; like all great souls he passed through hours of 
darkness and agony, through that refining fire which 
purified the gold of his heart, preparing him for an 
exceptionally close union with God, and leading him to 
great detachment, and a holy indifference for visible 
and material things. He was now to experience that 
which often falls to the lot of those who grow old In 
the service of the Lord, causing keen suffering to hearts 
not already dead and insensible to human sympathy. 
Death had claimed many from amongst his circle of 
friends and penitents during the years he held the Epis- 
177 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

copal See of Wilmington, and with the changes brought 
about by time and circumstances, a new set of people 
had largely taken the place of those who had known 
and venerated him. As It Is in the nature of all human 
things to change, the young flocked to the young, thus 
leaving comparatively little work In the confessional, 
so besieged in former years. Did the Bishop feel this 
change? No word ever expressed his sentiments, but 
his loving and sympathetic heart undoubtedly offered 
to God the sacrifice of a much loved work, and for 
which he had a special predilection, and as Is well 
known, a marked gift. Now, he would often slip away 
alone in the afternoon, to some fishing stream, there 
to cast his hook and line, while contemplating God and 
nature. Or, again, he would mount his wheel, and spin 
off to some quiet country road. One who knew the 
Bishop well, and admired his total absence of human 
respect, gives a pen picture of him In these later years, 
which is sketched as follows: "An old gentleman, in 
a short coat and close fitting cap, trousers tied at the 
ankle with a piece of twine, might be seen issuing from 
the Cardinal's house, mounting a bicycle, and hasten- 
ing away. After a ride of forty or fifty miles, he would 
lug his machine up to the garret room, don his cassock, 
and proceed to the Cathedral for an hour's visit to the 
Blessed Sacrament." 

The friend who so kindly furnishes many letters and 
sayings of the Bishop for this biography, together with 
valuable reminiscences, adds: " Possibly many foreign 
Bishops and perhaps some American prelates, to whom 
Bishop Curtis was not known personally, might con- 
sider certain of his ways too unconventional to be In 
keeping with the dignity of his ofl^ce." Such, however, 
was not the judgment of a distinguished Monslgnor, 
Vicar-General of an important French diocese. The 
scene of their meeting was the parlor of the Visitation 
Convent, where the French ecclesiastic was paying a 
visit. At three o'clock In the afternoon of a hot July 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

day, the Bishop arrived from Baltimore to hear the 
confessions of the religious. He was fasting, having 
sung a Requiem Mass at the obsequies of a dear friend 
in the priesthood. He had accompanied the remains 
to the cemetery, and then fearing to be late for his en- 
gagement, had, without dining, boarded the train for 
Wilmington. Perhaps he never looked worse than 
when he entered the parlor, tired, overheated and wear- 
ing a long linen duster. Certainly he bore a striking 

contrast to the elegant Mons. X , and after a 

short conversation, made awkward by the Bishop's 
small knowledge of French, and the Monsignor's still 
smaller knowledge of English, the Bishop withdrew 

to the chapel. " Ah ! " exclaimed Mons. X , " Cet 

Eveque est un Saint." 

He possessed the distinctive traits of a true gentle- 
man, combined with the highest virtues of a Priest and 
Bishop, which coincides with his definition, that, " Only 
a thorough disciple of Christ can be a true gentleman." 
Yet he did not deem it beneath his dignity to ride in 
a baggage car, for the sake of fulfilling an engagem.ent, 
when there was not standing room elsewhere; to take 
a spin on the wheel and even a pinch of snul^. He suf- 
fered always from a catarrhal affection of the head and 
throat, to counteract which — as well as " to keep me 
awake," he laughingly said, " during the long hours in 
the confessional " — he used snuff, but with modera- 
tion; for he was most ingenious in finding means of 
mortifying his tastes. Regularly at the beginning of 
Lent, he would hide his snuff-box, not allowing himself 
even a pinch until the fast was over; anticipating the 
time, however, by a few hours — for the little box 
could be seen in his hand on Holy Saturday — when 
engaged, till the late hours of the night, in the 
confessional. 

He had very little knowledge of music, not being able, 
as the common saying is, " to turn a tune." " I was 
almost the despair of those who had to teach me the 
179 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

chant in the Seminary," he said, to a party of friends 
gathered around him, at the same time making this 
singular little boast, " but I tell you, I can tune a riddle 
as well as any of you." He abhorred the performance 
of music of an operatic or worldly style in church, and 
remarked once, half-quizzically, yet with displeasure: 
" When I am pontificating, and the soprano begins to 
squeal up there," making an expressive gesture towards 
the choir, " I feel like turning around and telling her 
to close her mouth. There is no more soul in such 
singing than in the squeaking of a cart-wheel." ^ 

Whatever was poorest and most ordinary, the 
Bishop thought best suited to his needs. Who amongst 
those that knew and loved him, does not still remember 
the thoughtful, kindly face, under the common broad- 
brimmed beaver; the red bandana, which he always 
used, through a spirit of mortification, his hands 
chapped, and often gloveless in the severest cold; while 
in place of the fine polished linen of former days, the 
china buttoned wristband of coarse outing flannel, dis- 
appeared above the sleeves of soutane or coat. A sil- 
ver chain attached to a two-dollar watch, w^as the gift 
of a friend, otherwise It, too, would probably have been 
discarded. That same friend tells how the good Bishop 
tried to use a one-dollar watch, but disappointed in its 
service, added a second dollar to a new purchase. It 
must be remarked, however, that when occasion re- 
quired, the Bishop did not fail to dress well, and doubt- 
less those who knew and loved him equally recall his 
great dignity and striking appearance when vested In 
full pontificals. 

On the other hand, how lavishly he distributed alms! 
What abundant help given, just, when sorely needed, 
help known only to God and the recipient; food, coal, 
warm clothing, money; and last but not least, kind 
words and personal service uplifted many a despairing 

* This was before the Holy Father Pius X had forbidden music of such 
stamp to be sung in the Church. 

i8o 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

heart, and won many a soul back to its Maker. The 
Bishop practised literally the counsel of our Lord, for 
he let not his left hand know what his right hand gave. 
It was only after death that his many benefactions were, 
in part, revealed. The greater number inscribed In the 
book of life by the recording Angel will only be mani- 
fested on that great Day — when the deeds of all, good 
and evil, shall be made known. Among the many pa- 
thetic scenes witnessed after the Bishop's death, while 
his body lay in state at St. Agnes' Hospital, was that 
of a poor old man, who hobbled painfully out from the 
city, with the crowd of visitors. Weeping bitterly, he 
stood gazing on the prostrate form of his holy bene- 
factor, crying aloud, " Oh! you have kept me alive by 
your charity." 

During the ten years the Bishop administered the 
diocese of Wilmington he allowed himself no regular 
vacation, only varying his daily routine of hard work, 
by supplying, now and then, for some of his priests in 
the country districts. But after the resignation of his 
Episcopal See, a devoted friend, owning property on 
the Gulf coast of Florida, persuaded the Bishop to take 
a few weeks' rest every year in the early spring. There 
on the southern coast In the land of sunshine and 
flowers, he could indulge in his favorite pastimes of 
boating and fishing. The invitation was gratefully ac- 
cepted, for the Bishop was beginning to suffer much 
from rheumatism, and to feel the weight of advancing 
years. 

The following letters speak of the pleasure he ex- 
perienced In these visits to the sunny South, but do not 
tell of the sacrifices made in behalf of others, both In 
a material and spiritual line, for he never lost an oppor- 
tunity of doing good, but scattered blessings wherever 
he passed. 

" Sarasota, May 4, 1902. 

" It Is better to do more than less than one has prom- 
ised; I promised to write you as soon as I had taken 
181 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

a tarpon. As yet not one has been taken and yet I 
write. We have tried faithfully for four whole weeks 
without any success. Again and again tarpon were all 
round about us in great numbers, but they were imper- 
vious to any bait which we were able to present them. 

*' Sharks and sharks we have killed, relieving the 
waters of one or more every day nearly. Other fish 
we have taken also, of many kinds, but no tarpon. I 
should have despaired and abandoned the quest, but 
for Mr. McKee to whom I owe the trip, and whom I 
promised I would stay and try till strictly obliged to 
return. 

" This I am not forced to do save in time for Pente- 
cost, when I am under promise to pontificate In the 
Cathedral, so at present the probability is, that I shall 
not reach Baltimore till May i6th. But when I ap- 
pear, I shall be such a mulatto in face and hands, that 
you may all refuse to have anything to do with me, 
till I have had time to undergo some bleaching. . . . 
But to go back, one side of the account is no tarpon; 
moreover, as soon as I had arrived I was taken ill; 
even yet, I am not entirely well, though nearly so. Be- 
sides my right shoulder has been much more than ever 
before, rheumatic and aching. It is better now, but not 
yet well, and indeed I fancy never will be. This Is the 
debtor side of the account, the other side is, — weather 
all the time exquisite. We have missed but one week- 
day, and Sundays, of course. Every other day we have 
been on the water from 8.30 A. M. till nearly, or quite 
6.00 P. M. We have had splendid sailing, usually 
enough and rarely too much wind. We have had per- 
fect quiet. Mass every day, of which you all have 
never missed your share. Birds and flowers in abun- 
dance, and on my part, at least, some bathing. This I 
think states the items in general, but I am looking for- 
ward with no little pleasure to return home, where I 
am sure I am going to stay till some clear duty summons 
me elsewhere. Some recreation Is, I suppose, neces- 
182 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

sary, but of recreation simple, I tire very soon." The 
Bishop, as is easily seen, was a great lover of simple, 
country life, and said that when he pushed out on the 
water, hook and line at hand, he felt like a school-boy 
on a holiday. 

Writing a little later of his success in fishing, he says : 
" I have landed a Jew-fish weighing thirty pounds, and 
have fought a number of sharks, but they usually cut 
the line and cleared themselves. I have struck but one 
tarpon. He leaped magnificently five times, and then 
went his way, leaving me a hook turned and so bent as 
to be wholly useless. Seeing the size and strength of 
this hook, you would begin to understand what a tar- 
pon is, and what he can do. We begin In earnest this 
week to pursue the animals, and as they are now more 
numerous, we hope to master some of them before we 
quit." 

This brief relaxation only made the Bishop return 
with renewed zeal, to the labors awaiting him in the 
hidden parts of the vineyard of the Lord. One of 
these spots was Solomon's Island, located in the Chesa- 
peake Bay, and quite difficult of access. For the bene- 
fit of the few scattered Catholics, the Bishop repaired 
at stated times to this out-of-the-way place; where he 
offered the Holy Sacrifice and administered Confirma- 
tion. Arriving late one Saturday afternoon, he found 
that it had been raining for more than a week, and the 
downpour still continued. There was no one to meet 
him, nor was there a conveyance of any kind in sight. 
The good Bishop looked at the muddy roads which 
were almost Impassable, and, as he afterwards said, 
" My first impulse was to return to the boat, but 
thinking of the poor country people who would come 
so far to hear Mass, only to be disappointed, I changed 
my mind, took of^ my shoes and stockings and waded 
for more than a mile through the deep, heavy mud." 
He did not mention that he carried a large travelling 
case, and when asked if there had not been danger ol 

183 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

cutting and bruising his feet, he only laughed and re- 
plied : " Oh ! yes, some danger " — then quickly chang- 
ing the subject spoke of the edification he received, on 
seeing so many poor people coming so far to Mass, in 
the pouring rain — some fasting until after mid-day, 
while, on the other hand, those in better circumstances, 
and living nearer the church, did not arrive until after 
Mass, when all the ceremonies were concluded. The 
following week the Bishop was so 111 in consequence of 
cold, and exposure to the inclement weather, that he 
was unable to officiate in the Cardinal's place at the 
solemn Requiem Mass for the deceased Pontiff, Pope 
Leo XIII. Neither was he able for several days to 
perform any of the official duties which devolved upon 
him, during the Cardinal's absence in Rome. Under 
a burning sun in the hottest days of summer the self- 
forgetting Bishop could be seen pursuing his way, and 
returning from most fatiguing journeys, to occupy for 
a short respite his room " under the eaves," until an- 
other engagement should call him forth. 

Writing at this period to one who enjoyed his con- 
fidence, he speaks freely of his labors and sufferings, 
in connection with the summer heat: " The thermom- 
eter stood 91 at 4.30 this morning. It has been near 
that in my room for a day or two. My sleep is much 
and often broken, otherwise, I am so far as I know 
not any worse. I think relief is not far off, but it must 
be preceded by a tremendous storm. I shall stay here 
now, till after the retreat, then I shall go for a week 
to do various things at Oakland, Piedmont, Cumber- 
land. Hurrying back from Cumberland on the 9th of 
September, I go on the loth to Mt. St. Mary's for 
Ordinations on the nth, 12th and 13th." 

On September the 21st he writes: " If It was cool in 
Norfolk it is a pity you did not stay there longer. At 
8 p. M. the thermometer stands at 88 in my room. Add 
humidity to the heat, and the most cunning and venom- 
ous of mosquitoes to both, and you may understand 
184 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

our case. I don't think I have ever known a Summer 
and Fall so oppressive." 

In the early part of the year 1905, the Bishop's 
hitherto strong and vigorous constitution began to fail. 
During the preceding years, he had met with several 
accidents while riding his bicycle, and a series of falls 
which followed, must have been the prelude to that 
dread disease, which was now beginning its insidious 
inroads, and which three years later would set free that 
great and noble soul. 

Writing to a priest, an intimate friend, and speaking 
of these falls, he says: " Misfortunes come not singly. 
My fall from the wheel was little as compared with the 
fall I had yesterday. Flow it happened I am totally 
unable to say. I started down stairs to dinner. That 
I remember — after that, nothing till I found myself in 
Russell's room, with him and Louis beside me. There 
was a pretty bad cut on the right side of my head. 
The Doctor soon came and stitched and dressed this. 
Save for some smarting of the wound, I have since been 
as usual. I not only said Mass this morning, but after- 
wards carried Communion to my friend, Mrs. X., 
whom I am serving in what seems to me to be her last 
illness. But how long it will be in reaching the end, 
one cannot say. It seems to be an internal cancer. . . . 

" Once before, years ago I fell from the wheel, and 
did not remember falling at all, and the Doctor says 
this is not at all uncommon. I have been keeping my 
room to-day under the Doctor's advice. Every day 
I am made more and more aware of the fact, that life 
is full of accidents, which no wisdom can foresee, and 
no strength or skill can avert. Just as on the other 
hand one often escapes damage in the most marvellous 
way, when prior to the fact, escape would have seemed 
nearly impossible. The one I suppose implies the evil, 
and the other the good Angel." 

It was at this period that the Bishop drew up his 
will, a document so characteristic of its author in sim- 

18s 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

pllclty, and so touching in its spirit of poverty and hu- 
mility that it cannot fail to edify. 

April 14, 1905. 

I owe no man anything which can be paid in money. 

My sisters will pay the expense of my funeral. I 
will and demand that this expense shall be the very least 
practicable. Let the coffin — not casket — be of cheap 
wood — uncovered with cloth, and having upon it 
nothing of silver — nor anything simulating silver. 
Let the Mass be a low Mass if permissible — I demand 
and insist that no one whatever shall at the time of the 
funeral, say a single word save in the offices themselves. 
If I die in Baltimore, the Visitandines of Wilmington 
will, I suppose, claim that the interment shall be made 
within their enclosure. I promised them this. If they 
fail to make their claim, there is a place reserved for 
me in the lot of the Misses Hayward, in the Cathedral 
Cemetery, Balto. 

I give my Chalice to the Rev. John B. Tabb. All 
my vestments of every kind, not Episcopal, I give to 
the Rev. Edward Mickle. I desire that the Rev. John 
A. Lyons may be permitted to select anything and 
ever}'thing he wishes of the rest of my things. 

Let the Episcopal things go to any Bishop who may 
desire them, or any one of them. Let my books be free 
to all the household, to choose as each shall will. If 
the remainder be worth anything let them be given to 
anybody who may want them." 

^A. A. Curtis, Bp. of Echinus. 

Referring to the Bishop's instructions regarding his 
coffin. It is almost needless to add that his Administra- 
tor, the Reverend William Fletcher, D.D., Rector of 
the Baltimore Cathedral, could not bring himself to 
carry them out to the letter; but provided a casket. In 
keeping with the dignity of a Bishop of the holy Catho- 
lic Church. Bishop Curtis left no money, and never 
186 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

valued It, save In as far as It enabled him to assist God's 
poor, and make necessary provision for his sisters. 
With this end In view, he managed to save enough to 
give a moderate sum to a Catholic Seminary, stipulat- 
ing, however, that a life Interest should be paid to his 
sole surviving sister, — an Interest which, since his 
death, she has regularly received. During his last Ill- 
ness, indeed the very day before he died, the Bishop 
laid his three Episcopal rings In the hand of a trusted 
friend, saying faintly: " Sell these, and give the value 

received to ," naming certain needy persons, whom 

he had been accustomed to aid. Then stretching out 
his hand, and selecting from among the number a large 
and very handsome amethyst, set with diamonds, he 

said: " But, no: this one was given me by Mrs. X 

on the day of my consecration. She who was so lib- 
eral in gifts and alms while she had means may now 
be In need of this; see that it reaches her, with my 
blessing." It may truthfully be stated that the heights 
which the Bishop had attained in the spiritual life did 
not lessen the tenderness of his heart, and at this epoch 
the long and painful Illness of his youngest sister 
touched him deeply. She was said to be the favorite, 
If the Bishop could be suspected of making any dis- 
tinction, having loved and cared for mother and sis- 
ters since the father's death, which occurred In his 
eighteenth year. 

The following lines from letters penned to a friend 
during the different stages of this sister's malady, de- 
pict the alternate hopes and fears which moved him, 
without, however, altering in the least that serenity and 
repose of spirit In God which he ever enjoyed. 

" My sister M keeps out of bed and goes out of 

doors a little, when the weather does not forbid, but 
the old spells have returned, and altogether I have fear, 
that at any time she may become as she was before." 
Then encouraged by signs of improvement, In an- 
other letter he writes : " My sister has become wonder- 

187 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

fully, and to me and the doctors, unexpectedly better." 
Again: "My sister Maggie has not improved. She 
now says nothing at all, and sleeps nearly all the time, 
but happily, as tranquilly as a baby, which is a great 
comfort to us." And later: "There is no notable 
change in the condition of my sister. I have no hope 
whatever, though none can tell how long or short the 
decline is going to be." When two years later, death 
came to her relief, the end was, as is so apt to be 
the case in a prolonged illness, sudden and even un- 
expected; so sudden that the devoted brother was 
not present, for there was not even time to summon 
him. He made arrangements for the funeral of his 
dearly loved sister, in conjunction with one of his 
nephews, and accompanied the remains to their last 
resting place in the family lot at Pocomoke City. 
After her decease, expressing his gratitude for the sym- 
pathy and prayers offered him, he remarked solemnly 
and gravely: " My sister Maggie never sinned against 
the light." And this seemed to be a source of great 
consolation to his otherwise deeply afflicted heart. 

Extracts from letters to one of his most intimate 
friends, a holy priest, give some idea of the amount 
of work the Bishop still accomplished, while infirmity 
and suffering increased rapidly. In October of 1906 
he writes: "I am just back from Mt. St. Mary's, 
where I laid the corner-stone of the new Seminary. I 
am in Charles County next Sunday. Two confirma- 
tions, with some ten miles between — the Sunday after, 
three confirmations in Cumberland, and after that a 
confirmation every day for a v.eek, and a little more. 
How things good and bad do bunch themselves." 

On December the 9th of the same year he writes: 
" I was on the go last week. Wednesday to Wilming- 
ton and back. Thursday to Frederick for the annual 
visit, Friday home, and away at once to pontificate yes- 
terday, at the University. I stayed over till this morn- 
ing to make a priest of a Holy Cross deacon, ordered 
188 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

to Bengal and to sail next Wednesday. I made one 
for the same Mission a year or two ago, and already 
he Is in the hospital, a hopeless invalid, but he will 
get his reward, for the Lord no more needs our health 
than our sickness. Pray for me." 

If one reflects on the amount of work spoken of in 
the above lines, and realizes that each of these cere- 
monies of which the Bishop speaks, means a double 
class of persons to be confirmed; the administration 
of the Sacrament, always preceded by Holy Mass; a 
short address to the confirmandi before and after the 
ceremony, a practice the Bishop never omitted. Add 
to all this the fatigue of long rides over the rough 
country roads, so much dreaded by him In his weak- 
ened state of health, the holy Bishop's zeal and re- 
markable fortitude cannot fail to be recognized, and 
it may easily be believed that he could say with the 
great St. Paul, "I die daily"; and again, "I can do 
all things in Him who strengtheneth me." i Cor. xv. 
31 ; Phil. iv. 13. 



189 



CHAPTER XIV 

1908 

\XrHEN Bishop Curtis wrote: " Age teaches us hu- 
^ ^ mility, making us feel our incapacity and noth- 
ingness," he was doubtless expressing his own personal 
feelings; not realizing, as did others, that he was 
already a finished master in that Christ-like virtue, of 
which he was to give, yet, one more striking example. 

The Bishop had a strong presentiment of his ap- 
proaching death, though no one else dreamed of it, 
also of the nature of the cruel disease that was slowly 
consuming him, but concerning which he had not yet 
seriously consulted any physician. On May the 26th 
he wrote the following answer to an anxious inquiry 
about his health: " I really do not know what to say. 
I have no appetite and am often so weak and giddy 
that I am afraid of toppling over. On two mornings 
at the altar I seemed on the verge of going down from 
giddiness. What is the root of the matter I can't de- 
termine; the stomach, I know, is seriously implicated, 
but whether as principal or accessory I can't determine. 
. . . The worst is that this spell is much longer and 
more obstinate than any previous one. I hope, how- 
ever, by the help of God to keep on my feet, and to do 
the great deal I must do between this and the end of 
June." 

The willing spirit and iron will upheld the rapidly 
weakening body, enabling him to perform the long and 
exhausting functions of his office, preaching, confirm- 
ing, ordaining, while literally dying on his feet. God 
allowed him to fulfil an oft-expressed wish: "I hope 
I shall die in harness, doing the Master's work." In 
190 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

view of Increasing infirmity the Bishop had silently 
begun to make preparations to resign his office of Vicar- 
General, and leave the Cardinal's house, " to make 
room," he said, " for a better and younger man." But 
when he announced his Intention to Cardinal Gibbons, 
His Eminence would not hear of It, nor would he re- 
lease him from his charge. The Bishop was glad to 
work on, and between the 26th and 29th of May, con- 
firmed twice. On the 29th he wrote: "I find I can 
always do what I feel I must do, and moreover, that I 
am none the worse for doing it. I had two confirma- 
tions yesterday, but both small. The second was at 
Mt. de Sales, where everything was very beautiful. I 
have but two more, one at the colored church of St. 
Barnabas, and the other at St. Joseph's, Emmltsburg. 
But I have three ordinations, two of them, each of 
three days, besides, I have two commencements, one 
at Mt. St. Mary's, and the other at St. Joseph's." 

The following extract from the letter of a holy 
daughter of St. Vincent de Paul gives a little account 
of the above mentioned confirmation at St. Joseph's 
Academy, Emmltsburg. " The brief instruction given 
on that occasion was singularly impressive, so much 
so that the Priest who waited on him said that his 
words seemed those of inspiration, voiced by a saint, 
even the children themselves remarked it. In their own 
simple way. After explaining to them the nature, 
graces, gifts and benefits derived from the Sacrament 
of Confirmation, the Bishop said: ''We all desire a 
friend, we look about for one that we can trust, for 
one that will be a right arm, a support, a comfort, a 
help, a defence, a guide, a protector. Now, this you 
will have in the Holy Ghost; He comes to be the truest 
and best of Friends, an unfailing one. He comes to 
be to you more than any earthly friend could possibly 
be. All other friends, however true, would simply be 
such only In name, in comparison with the Divine 
Friend who comes to you to-day. Keep Him then al- 
191 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

ways in holiness and truth, never sadden Him, nor 
force Him to deny His All-powerful Friendship, by 
the commission of any grievous sin, but try to deserve 
His most intimate communications by great purity of 
life and manners. This Friend will never abandon you, 
but will ever be at your side, within your heart, to give 
you any spiritual help you may need. Think of this, 
and cherish with jealous care a love and friendship ab- 
solutely essential for the salvation of your soul. This 
divine Friend will never depart from you, unless by 
sin you chase Him away. May God grant that such a 
misfortune may never happen to any of you, but that 
having had the happiness to become the temples of the 
Holy Spirit of God, you may ever cherish and preserve 
the help of the divine Friend, by fidelity and persever- 
ance in God's grace." 

Sister C adds: "What our Fathers remarked 

as characteristic of Bishop Curtis was his total indiffer- 
ence to the ways of the world, there seemed to be noth- 
ing of this earth about him; his manners, his words, 
his appearance, his opinions were totally averse to 
those of the world, and most adverse. Our good direc- 
tor who is a man after God's own Heart had the most 
unbounded veneration and esteem for the saintly 
Bishop Curtis, and loved to speak of his virtues. In 
his instruction to the community he has spoken of him 
as a living model of poverty, humility and utter con- 
tempt of the world. He told us how edified our rev- 
erend father confessor was, on the occasion of his 
business visits to the Bishop, when admitted to his bed- 
room, to see not even the ordinary comforts of life. 
. . . We possess his plain, black straw hat and his old, 
faded umbrella. These we have placed in a glass 
frame and venerate as relics. Father S. keeps his com- 
mon pocket knife about his person, as a sacred object 
and souvenir of the saintly Bishop." 

From all sides comes the testimony that the Bishop's 
increasing sanctity was something almost tangible; the 
192 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

hasty temper was subdued and the strong irascible na- 
ture had become so meek and humble, that those who 
came in contact with him, felt he might have said in 
truth: "I live, now not I; but Christ liveth in me." 
Gal. ii. 20. The bodily powers grew weaker as his 
soul drew nearer to God, and the purification was to 
be in proportion to the high place destined for it. God 
spared not him whomi He had predestinated to con- 
formity with the image of His beloved Son, and laid 
upon His faithful servant not only the cross of physi- 
cal pain, but the cross of keenest suffering of both heart 
and mind. The Bishop accepted the Chalice and the 
Cross, in perfect conformity with God's holy will, even 
joyfully; and his desire is well expressed in these other 
words of the great St. Paul: "That I may know 
Him . . . the fellowship of His sufferings, being 
made conformable to His death." Phil. iii. 10. 

For the sake of the Religious family, so devoted to 
him, the Bishop bore the cross in a series of misunder- 
standings, which sprang from the best intentions on 
the part of all concerned, but of which God formed the 
instruments of this final purification. 

On June the 3d, Bishop Curtis, already too weak to 
trust himself to travel alone, though the secret was 
so well kept, none surmised it, made his last journey 
to Wilmington, accompanied by the Very Reverend 
F. X. McKenny, President of St. Charles College. He 
paid what proved to be his last visit to the Visitation 
Convent, of which he was for so many years Spiritual 
Father and Director, and where he was eagerly ex- 
pected by his devoted daughters. To quote from the 
Convent Annals: "Our hearts told us he was suffer- 
ing; the tall hitherto erect form was stooped and ema- 
ciated, but the gentle smile remained unchanged, and 
he had his usual kind, fatherly word for each sister, 
as she advanced to kiss his ring. When it came the 
turn of an aged domestic sister, the Bishop rose and 
went forward to meet her. After a pleasant talk in the 

193 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

assembly room, the Bishop and his companion, sur- 
rounded by his children, passed into the beautiful gar- 
den. Upon reaching the little cemetery, he counted 
the graves of the religious, praying at each one, and 
raising his hand in blessing; then, with arm resting 
upon the iron gate, his eyes dwelt long and with 
an inscrutable expression on the green sod at the 
base of the stone crucifix, the spot destined and 
reserved for his tomb. In six short weeks that spot 
was to open its earthy walls to receive his mortal 
remains. 

The meditation lasted long, and the Bishop was 
so lost in thought, that he roused himself with difficulty. 
Continuing to walk through the winding paths, he said 
very gently: " I did not think it so far around the en- 
closure. I never realized the walk so long." How 
little those who accompanied him, thinking that the 
pure air of the lovely June morning and the freshness 
of the flowering garden would refresh him, dreamed 
of the effort being made. Entering the Ante-Choir the 
Bishop leaned heavily for a moment upon a large 
bracket, which bore a statue of the Infant Jesus, then 
recovering himself, he said with much animation: 
" Now I want to visit the sick," and with perceptible 
difficulty ascended a staircase leading to the Infirmary, 
where he conversed cheerfully with an invalid sister 
long confined to a rolling chair. Leaving behind him 
the benediction of his holy presence and uplifting 
words, he passed out through the enclosure door with 
hand raised in blessing; through that enclosure which 
was so soon to open to his coffin. Between this date 
and the 27th he continued to work, going through the 
long ordinations mentioned in his letter of May 29th, 
thus fulfilling his last engagement. Having finished 
the work God had given him to do, the Bishop at last 
consulted a physician. 

To quote again from the Convent Annals, " June 
29th, 1908: To-day we stand In the shadow of a 
194 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

mighty cross, which came to us in a letter from our 
saintly Bishop Curtis, telling us of his mortal illness. 
In his last visit of June 3d we were shocked by his ap- 
pearance, but, in spite of our pleading, he refused to 
see a physician, saying, he knew what they would say, 
and that he had engagements every day until the 26th. 
On June 27th the Bishop consulted a noted specialist, 
and the worst fears were confirmed; his disease was 
an internal cancer, and the announcement pierced our 
hearts like a two-edged sword. In the following letter 
he gave the dread tidings: 

Baltimore, June 29, 1908. 

For some time past I have thought myself to have 
an internal cancer, either of liver or stomach. Satur- 
day last, I consulted the expert, Doctor Friedenwald. 
After two examinations, the second one including the 
pumping out of the stomach, he ratified my conjecture. 
He seemed, however, far more hopeful as to an amelio- 
ration and prolongation of life than I myself am. I 
am going this afternoon to Ocean City, rather with the 
wish for, than in the hope of benefit. It is with loath- 
ing and difficulty that I can take the smallest quantity 
of food, and when taken it seems to do rather harm 
than good. So, as it to me appears, it is simply a ques- 
tion how long I shall be in starving to death. I am 
in no wise disposed to resist or impeach the will and 
sentence of our ever Blessed Lord. But I want more 
than this, and I beg that you and all the rest will pray, 
that I may not have merely resignation, but that ac- 
cording to my littleness and unworthiness, I may share 
in that strong desire which St. Paul had to depart and 
be with Xt., more than I can be with Him on earth. 

If I shall find it practicable I shall try to see you all 
before I become totally disabled. My love and bless- 
ing to all. 

Yrs. faithfully In Xt., 
^A. A. Curtis, Bp. Tit. of Echinus. 
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Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

The heart of the reader can comment on such a let- 
ter better than a weak pen. On June the 29th the 
Bishop accompanied by a faithful friend went to Ocean 
City as the guest of his successor, the Right Reverend 
J. J. Monaghan of Wilmington. Although everything 
possible was done for his comfort during the five days 
of this visit, he suffered greatly from extreme weakness 
and exhaustion, being unable to retain any food. But 
the love of God, burning in his soul, so supported him, 
that he succeeded in saying Mass every morning, until 
July the 4th. On the 3d, the " First Friday " of the 
month, that day specially dedicated to the Sacred Heart 
of Jesus, the holy Bishop said his last Mass. What 
that Mass must have been, one may safely conclude 
from his own words uttered years before : " We ought 
to be able to say after each Mass, This is the best Mass 
I have ever said. I have offered more to God, more 
for souls this day than I have ever done before; more 
love and more zeal for the conversion of souls. I have 
sacrificed to Him more of my own will." 

On July the 4th, the Bishop's 77th birthday, his 
devoted companion, the Very Rev. John A. Lyons, 
his former Vicar-General, celebrated the holy Sacri- 
fice, at which the Bishop not only assisted, but even 
served, after which the Very Rev. John A. Lyons con- 
ducted the dying saint to St. Agnes' Sanitarium in 
Baltimore. 

The day was excessively warm, and the fatiguing 
journey was accomplished with difficulty, owing to the 
weakened condition of the brave sufferer, for whom 
few comforts could be procured. The Bishop had long 
exercised himself in abandonment and holy indiffer- 
ence, having taken for a special practice during the last 
years of his life the admirable maxim of St. Francis 
de Sales: " Ask for nothing, and refuse nothing." He 
found in this exercise all the virtues combined, and with- 
out choice received all the events of life with loving 
indifference as coming from the Divine Hand. 
196 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

The following letter of Monsignor Lyons speaks of 
that last journey: 

St. Peter's Cathedral, Wilmington, Delaware, 
Dear Sister: J^^^ 4, 1908. 

Your very kind letter I found on my desk a few mo- 
ments ago, on my return from St. Agnes' Hospital, 
where I had the honor of escorting our beloved saint, 
father and director, to what, without a miracle, will 
prove his last resting place this side of Heaven, where 
he belongs. 

So sure was he of this, that he had already ar- 
ranged to go there before starting off with us Monday 
last for Ocean City. He is now in the hands of God, 
of the expert physicians and the devoted sisters. All 
is possible to grace, but among the cherished feats of 
my life Is the one just concluded of bringing the mar- 
tyr of suffering into a sure asylum of ministering an- 
gels. I will call to-morrow and say what I have not 
heart now to put on paper. Our cross is mutual. 
Sincerely In Domino, 

J. A. Lyons. 

When the Bishop reached St. Agnes' at about 
2.30 p. M., he was greeted with the words : " O Bishop ! 
I am so glad that you have come to us, we are going to 
be very good to you, and do everything possible to ben- 
efit you." " Oh, yes! dear child," the Bishop replied, 
" I know very well you can do the first, but I doubt the 
second." He was urged to go to bed, but with the sub- 
mission of a child, he said, that if it did not matter, he 
preferred to remain on the lounge. About an hour 
later one of those " ministering angels " going to the 
chapel to make her meditation, found the venerable 
Bishop kneeling as straight as though In perfect health 
and reading his OfHce. After supper he spent some 
time in the chapel, and requested to be awakened In 
the morning for the Community Mass, since he was not 

197 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

able to offer the Holy Sacrifice. He was urged to re- 
ceive Holy Communion before Mass in order that he 
might retire immediately when the Holy Sacrifice was 
finished, but he said, fearing to give any trouble: " I 
would rather communicate when the community re- 
ceives." Then with faltering steps he approached 
the altar where he received Our Lord with angelic 
fervor. " Every hour of the holy Bishop's stay at 
the Sanitarium was marked with subjects of edification, 
and evidences of his sanctity," said one of the nurses. 
" When in an agony of intense pain, and the burning 
fever consuming his very vitals, he asked for a little 
ice to allay the terrible thirst, but seeing that the sister 
in attendance would be obliged to descend the stairs 
for it, he forbade her to go, saying, " Sister, I give 
you an obedience not to go for the ice now, I can wait." 
On Monday he sat on the lawn for a short time, 
but as he was returning to his room, he said to the 
one who accompanied him, " This is the last time I 
shall go out." His words were prophetic, for on Tues- 
day the holy Bishop took to his bed, never again to 
leave it. " Every morning," says one who had the 
privilege of waiting upon him, " I took the Bishop his 
mail, and knelt as I handed it to him; he would say: 
" God bless you, thank you, dear child." On July the 
7th he wrote with his ow^n hand to his dear daughters 
of the Visitation of Wilmington, who, unable to leave 
their cloister, sent emissaries almost daily to see their 
beloved Father. 

St. Agnes' Hospital, Baltimore, 
My dear Daughters : J^^^ 7, 1908. 

I am trying to write you my last letter. But it must 
be a very short one since I am so very weak. 

I. I must thank you for the affection, trust and docil- 
ity you have for so long always shown to me. The 
Lord takes all this to Himself and will not be slow or 
niggardly in reward. 

198 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

2. Cleave without flinching to your purpose to live 
by the ancient rule of your Order. ... Be always 
loyal, trustful and affectionate towards your Bishop. 
Neither lend nor borrow, but give whenever you can 

and all you can. In particular I commend to you 

and See that neither ever lacks anything neces- 
sary to his comfort. 

3. All the rest you must take for granted; viz., how 
I love you all and depend upon you all to procure 
mercy for me at the judgment seat of the Lord Jesus, 
and how I count upon soon meeting you all, If not In 
Heaven, yet In the Vestibule thereto. 

Many, many times love and blessing to you all. As 
I have told you how you should stand towards your 
Bishop, so now I tell you to cleave to your Mother, 
be she who she may. Confer with her, confide In her 
— obey her, and so far as practicable, let there be no 
film of alienation between any child and the mother 
of the family. 

Yours faithfully In Xt., 

^A. A. Curtis, Bp. Tit, of Echinus. 

At the Bishop's request, the attending physician at 
St. Agnes', a Protestant, was asked not to resort to 
any extraordinary means for the alleviation of his 
sufferings or prolongation of life, for, said he, " My 
days of usefulness are over, and my age Is such as to 
assure me that God wants me now." 

" The saintly Bishop suffered much," his chief nurse 
wrote, "but not the least complaint escaped his lips; 
ever most patient and resigned, his only trouble seemed 
to be the anxiety he caused others." His Eminence 
Cardinal Gibbons called at the Hospital on Saturday, 
the day of the Bishop's arrival, and again on the fol- 
lowing Wednesday. Coming out of the Bishop's room, 
the Cardinal said: " Sisters, God has favored you, in 
permitting you to care for a saint, and a great saint." 

After the first few days at St. Agnes' the Bishop 
199 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

was unable to go to the chapel for holy Mass, and his 
devoted friend, the Reverend Edward Mickle, having 
taken up his abode at the Hospital, that he might be 
near the holy invalid to serve him in every possible 
way, offered to say Mass in his room. The Bishop 
refused, saying: "There must be nothing extraordi- 
nary, nothing out of the common for me. I know 
my Lord and my God is on the altar In the ad- 
joining room — there is only a wall separating us, 
and I can assist from my bed at the Mass going on 
there." 

He made only one personal request during his ill- 
ness. Upon being told that the Apostolic Delegate 
then in Washington, now Cardinal Falconio, had tel- 
ephoned to ask news of the Bishop's condition, he ex- 
pressed his gratitude; and the one who brought the 
message asked If he had any special reply. " Yes," an- 
swered the Bishop, " please ask him to send me the 
Holy Father's blessing." Visitors flocked to the Hos- 
pital In great numbers, hoping to receive a last word 
and blessing from their saintly Father, friend and 
benefactor. The clergy of the Wilmington diocese, 
and faithful friends amongst the laity, were greeted 
with special affection, for although so weak and pros- 
trate, he would not allow them to be turned away, say- 
ing: "Yes, let them come In, they are my children." 
As they knelt for his blessing he bade them sit close 
to his bedside, and to stay until he should dismiss 
them. 

Answering a question addressed to him by one of 
the Wilmington clergy, he said : " I am starving to 
death, yes, starving to death; but, there is something 
which gives me a little fear." The good priest inter- 
rupting him, said: "O Bishop, If you have anything 
to fear, what will become of the rest of us? " " Well," 
said the holy dying one, " I fear that I do not suffi- 
ciently desire to go to God and I will have to answer 
to my Master for this." Was not that momentary 

200 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

fear of a soul that had always longed, " to be dissolved 
and to be with Christ," the last touch of the Divine 
Refiner? 

When asked if the pain was very severe: " Awful, 
awful, awful," was his only reply, and then, as if re- 
gretting having spoken so plainly, he asked quickly: 
"How long do they say I shall hold out?" Father 
Mickle answered: "The head nurse thinks you will 
live a month." The Bishop said slowly: "Yes, that 
would be little to pay God what I owe Him; yes, little, 
but I have only three days more, then all will be over." 
He said the same to the Cardinal, who visited him 
again on Wednesday, the 8th of July. When His Emi- 
nence spoke with doubt and indecision of his approach- 
ing voyage to Rome, the holy Bishop answered: " In 
three days all will be over, and you will sail on the 
15th as you have planned." His Eminence having ex- 
pressed deep regret and compassion for his terrible 
sufferings, the Bishop said he " reckoned them to bear 
no comparison with what he hoped and expected." 

That same Wednesday Father Mickle, noticing a 
great change in the saintly sufferer, asked him if he 
would not like to be anointed. When the Bishop as- 
sented. Father Mickle wished to know why he had not 
asked himself for Extreme Unction, to which the 
Bishop replied: " Oh, it is not for' me to say! I am 
in your hands and leave to you to decide and to ad- 
minister when it shall be the proper time." 

Kind, consoling words to those surrounding him 
were ever on his lips, and when strong men broke 
down and wept like children, it was the dying Bishop 
who encouraged and strengthened the grief-stricken, 
while his feeble, emaciated hand was continually 
raised In blessing. 

When the end came at last, on Saturday, July the 
nth, at 8.45 A. M. it was, as is so often the case, even 
in mortal illness, unexpected at the moment. The 
Chaplain of the hospital, the nurses and a few others, 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

near and dear, were around him, but so sudden was 
the summons, there was no time to call the household. 

" The change," says one who was privileged to be 
present at that bedside, " was instantaneous; the holy 
Bishop put his blessed hand under his head, which he 
turned to an opposite side, raised his eyes towards 
heaven, and passed to God, like a child who finds the 
longed-for rest on the bosom of its mother." 

" After his holy death, upon looking over his little 
belongings," writes the same pen, " nothing could be 
found that might be given as souvenirs to the many 
friends who cherished and revered him. His Breviary 
had absolutely nothing in it, a pair of common black 
Rosary beads with a much worn cross attached, seemed 
to be his greatest treasure. It had been blessed and 
given to him by Pope Pius IX, and he had always car- 
ried it, in sickness and In health. While at St. Agnes' 
it was never out of his poor, tremulous fingers, even to 
the last moment, which ended his beautiful life on 
earth." 

The Bishop died gloriously poor; as one testifies, 
whose happiness it was to minister to him to the last: 
*' A Rosary, Breviary and Ordo, one suit of clothes, a 
few changes of underwear of the poorest kind, and a 
gun metal watch were all that he left behind him." 

A small steamer trunk contained all his worldly pos- 
sessions, with this was a fishing-tackle, which he left 
to Rev. Louis O'Donovan of the Cathedral, for, 
said he, " Louis is young and loved to accompany me 
in this Innocent diversion." " Two old pocket-books 
were also found, one containing a few one-dollar bills, 
folded separately and carefully; the other held a few 
five and ten cent pieces and quarters, arranged seem- 
ingly for distribution among the poor." 

The good Bishop told one who was with him 
throughout his illness to give each of his male attend- 
ants five dollars, and to say to them, that he would beg 
God to bless their kindness to him. " As for the Sis- 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

ters," he said, " they are working for the same recom- 
pense as myself." 

" Nothing could be more beautiful than the sequel 
of this blessed holy life," continues his " ministering 
angel." " I thought I had met saints in my life, but 
I have certainly met the greatest, in the wonderfully 
humble, learned, modest and holy man of God, Bishop 
Curtis. I think St. Vincent de Paul's last hours must 
have been like those of the holy Bishop. Such was my 
impression as I ministered to him." 

Immediately after the great soul went forth, St. 
Agnes' bell tolled the sad tidings, and the flag was 
lowered to half-mast. The news was sent at once to 
the Cardinal's residence, from whence the priests of 
the parishes throughout the city of Baltimore were in- 
formed, and the bells of more than forty churches were 
soon tolling in memory of the dead Prelate. 

The Cardinal was deeply affected at the sad tidings, 
as were also the Priests of the Archdiocese, numbers 
of whom were greatly attached to the Bishop, who lay 
in the stillness of death at St. Agnes' Hospital. 

Messages of sympathy poured in at night, and sev- 
eral prelates arrived in Baltimore the next day. Thou- 
sands viewed the holy remains while they lay in state, 
at St. Agnes' on Sunday, July the 12th. Eminent prel- 
ates, the clergy and laity, young and old, rich and 
poor came to show their respect, veneration and es- 
teem for the beloved dead. 

Yes, the heroic soul of the saintly Bishop had 
passed forever from the land of exile, and had tasted 
the fruition of a promise he loved to quote: " His ser- 
vants shall serve Him, and they shall see His face, and 
His name shall be on their foreheads." Apoc. St. John 
xxii. 3, 4. 



203 



CHAPTER XV 

1908 (continued) 

"DY order of Cardinal Gibbons, the holy remains of 
-■^ the deceased Bishop were removed on Monday 
from St. Agnes' Hospital to the Cathedral, where they 
lay In state until the funeral, which took place the fol- 
lowing morning. If thousands viewed his body at St. 
Agnes', what can be said of the throngs that passed 
around the bier in the old Baltimore Cathedral! 
Books, rosaries and objects of devotion were eagerly 
and reverently laid for a moment on the casket, or 
brought in contact with his Episcopal robes. At the 
funeral services the church was filled to overflowing, 
with members of the Cathedral congregation and other 
Catholic churches of the city; and there were also pres- 
ent many of those who were under his care when he 
was Rector of Mt. Calvary Church. With that extreme 
simplicity, which he himself so much liked, the services 
were carried out. The altar and holy Images were 
draped in black, and at 9 o'clock the Office of the Dead 
was said by the clerg}^ Bishop Monaghan of Wilming- 
ton presiding. The Cardinal celebrated the Mass of 
Requiem, during which he was deeply moved; his as- 
sistant Priest was the Very Rev. John A. Lyons of Wil- 
mington, and his Chaplains the Very Rev. Dr. E. R. 
Dyer of St. Mary's SemlnaiT, and Rev. O. B. Corrl- 
gan, Vicar-General of the Archdiocese, now Auxiliary 
Bishop of Baltimore, the Revs. Thomas S. Lee of 
Washington and William E. Starr of Baltimore, now 
Monsignorll, were respectively Deacon and Sub-deacon 
of the Mass. The Cardinal occupied his throne, and 
204 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

one was erected on the Epistle side of the Sanctuary 
for the Apostolic Delegate, now Cardinal Falconio. 
Other Prelates, among them Archbishop P. J. Ryan, 
and Bishops Kenny, Van de Vyver, Monaghan and 
Keiley, occupied seats In the Sanctuary, with the regular 
and secular Clergy behind them. There were likewise 
representatives of the Benedictines, Franciscans, Do- 
minicans and Jesuits. 

The Rt. Rev. P. J. Donahue of Wheeling, West Vir- 
ginia, a former rector of the Cathedral, preached the 
funeral oration. He chose his text from the Acts of 
the Apostles ix. 15. "This man is to me a vessel of 
election," and spoke In part as follows: 

" We are all familiar with the sublime recital from 
which the foregoing words are taken. Paul going up 
from Jerusalem to Damascus, ' breathing out threaten- 
ings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord'; 
the light from Heaven which struck him in terror to the 
earth, and the voice from Heaven calling, ' Saul, Saul, 
why persecutest thou Mel ' of his sublime baptism and 
his glorious career in the after time, as Apostle to the 
Gentiles. 

" In the nineteen centuries Intervening God has not 
ceased to call at one time by exterior vision, at another 
by Interior illumination, chosen souls, vessels of elec- 
tion, whom He intends for some great vocation — not 
Indeed as sublime as that of Paul, but still for His 
honor and the salvation of souls; and as I gaze upon 
the mortal remains of our dear Father in Christ, Rt. 
Rev. Alfred Allen Curtis, the words of my text arise In 
my mind Irresistibly and spring to my lips. For we 
who look back upon this noble life of threescore years 
and seventeen now ended, without presuming to search 
too deeply or curiously Into the ways of Divine Provi- 
dence, must perforce believe that the soul once Inhabit- 
ing this prostrate tenement of clay was a vessel of elec- 
tion, designed by God for a very special work, and that 
He so preordained the character, environment and his- 
205 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

tory of that soul, as to fit it for the high destiny it was 
to achieve. 

*' Alfred Curtis was born in this Commonwealth, of 
sturdy stock on July 4, seventy-seven years ago, and 
throughout his long life preserved something of the 
spirit of freedom and independence for which that day 
stands. He was a studious and retiring child and youth, 
fond of books, solitude and self-communings, and of 
a deeply religious turn of mind. Born and reared in 
the Episcopal faith, as he advanced to manhood there 
was a great religious movement developing in England. 
John Henry Newman, thirty years his senior, was be- 
ginning to shake the religious world of Oxford to its 
foundations. He had taken orders in 1824. Nine 
years later, in 1833, while returning to his home from 
Sicily, by way of the Mediterranean in an orange boat, 
as he lay in a dead calm of a week's duration in the 
Straits of Bonifacio, broken in health, but still more 
harrowed and broken in spirit, he WTOte those immortal 
lines : 

Lead, kindly li^^ht, 

Amid the encircling gloom 

Lead Thou me on. 

The night is dark 

And I am far from home — 

w^hich have ever remained a comfort and strength to 
souls doubting and unsatisfied, groping and stretching 
out helpless hands of supplication, like the babe stretch- 
ing out its hands for its Mother in the night. After 
twelve more years of spiritual struggle, he was received 
into the Catholic Church, October 9, 1845, to be fol- 
lowed later by Manning, Faber, Oakeley, Ward and 
others in great numbers. Nor was the influence of this 
movement unfelt on this side of the Atlantic. 

" Young Curtis was fourteen when Newman joined 

the Catholic Church. When the Catholic hierarchy, 

after a suspension of three centuries, was again set up 

in England, and Newman preached the memorable 

206 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

sermon, ' The Second Spring,' he had arrived at man's 
estate. God forbid, dearly beloved brethren, that I 
should seize upon this occasion to indulge in the bitter- 
ness of religious controversy. If the cold right hand 
of that sacred form prostrate here could be lifted, it 
would be in stern disapproval of such a course. I am 
merely endeavoring to trace the history of this man's 
soul and God's dealings with it. 

" I believe then that it was caught and swayed by the 
tide which first began to set from Oxford, and that the 
heart of our departed one was subjected to long periods 
of questionings, self-examinations and doubts. I be- 
lieve that he trod a like rough and thorny path with 
Newman and his followers, and for many years; till 
after consultation with his leader in England, he him- 
self made the great sacrifice, and from a zealous, most 
devout and ardent Episcopalian clergyman became a 
Catholic, and later, after due preparation, a Catholic 
priest. 

" Thus he broke suddenly and irrevocably with all 
his former life. He gave up friends, and doubtless 
made some critics, if not enemies. His might have been 
domestic love, sweet home and children climbing his 
knee, fame, position and all that this world holds dear, 
but true to his convictions, he gave up all. We may 
not know the whole history of that great renunciation; 
it is written in the Book of Life. He became a priest, 
and what a priest ! This is within the knowledge of 
many of you — his love of the poor, his patience with 
sinners, the fiery eloquence and depth of his pulpit 
utterances, he himself being a perpetual sermon as he 
went about in his sacred ministry. 

" I dare to say that even if he had been born and had 
lived without the pale of Divine revelation, he would 
have been a great and lovable man. He had a brave 
and tender heart, a finely disciplined intellect, a great 
capacity for friendship. 

" A Bruno or a Benedict in his love of solitude, he 
207 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

was a Saint P>ancis of Asslsi in his love of all the furry 
creatures of the woods, the birds of the air, the fishes 
that go to and fro in the paths of the sea. And when 
this solid foundation of the natural man was exalted, 
spiritualized, ennobled, by the superstructure of divine 
grace, then you had the man of God, the man of prayer, 
the unselfish man, who recked not of the honors, riches 
and pleasures of this world. And I think his special 
vocation, the reason of his being marked out as a 
vessel of election, was to show the world the faithful 
and the unfaithful, and especially the clergy of this 
great Archdiocese, the model and the exemplar of a 
Christlike priest in chastity, poverty and sobriety in 
utter self-sacrifice, in unabated zeal for the house of 
God! Candor looked out of those mild eyes, and 
truth sat enthroned upon the lips. Modesty and 
quiet dignity were atmospheres round about him. 
To him indeed could superior associates and inferiors 
point and say with holy pride: 'There is the true 
Priest.' " 

Bishop Donahue passed over the period of the epis- 
copate of the deceased, partly because, he said, he was 
not well acquainted with it, and partly because it would 
be appropriately dealt with, when the body was borne 
to Wilmington, his former Episcopal See. " He was 
as true a Bishop as he was a Priest, loved and revered 
by us all," continued the preacher. " When he laid the 
burden down after eleven years, he came back here to 
the scene of his former labors, and here in his love of 
solitude and prayer, in his unfailing kindness and 
fatherly tenderness, he has been an Angel among 
men." 

At the close of his sermon the eloquent preacher 
made an earnest appeal for the prayers of the Cardinal, 
whom the deceased had served for so many years as 
secretary, priest and Vicar-General, for those of the 
Suffragan Bishops, of the Clergy of the Archdiocese, 
and of the faithful to whom he had devoted so many 
208 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

years of labor, attending their sick, instructing their 
little ones, burying their dead and breaking to all the 
Bread of Eternal life. 

After Mass the Cardinal in a black cope and at- 
tended by his Chaplains performed the absolutions of 
the Church around the bier, after which the Clergy, 
followed by the congregation, filed down the middle 
aisle to view once more the body of the holy Bishop. 
The honorary pallbearers were the Hon. C. J. Bona- 
parte, Messrs. Michael Jenkins, Austin Jenkins, Dr. 
Felix Jenkins, Dr. Charles O'Donovan and Charles B. 
Tiernan. At four o'clock the remains were removed 
to the Union Station, and escorted by Rev. Dr. 
Fletcher, rector of the Baltimore Cathedral, and the 
active pallbearers, as a Guard of Honor, to Wilming- 
ton. Bishop Monaghan had chartered a special car, 
beautifully fitted up, wherein the casket was placed, the 
attendants occupying the remaining space. The active 
pallbearers were selected from the St. Vincent de Paul 
Society and were Messrs. J. R. Wheeler, D. N. Sulli- 
van, C. I. Dunn, E. Kreamer, Mark O. Shriver, P. J. 
McEvoy, W. G. Groeninger, and Dr. C. J. Grindall. 

Back to his loving and beloved people came the dead 
Bishop, to the seat of his former See. His body for 
the third time was laid in state at St. Peter's Cathedral ; 
and the numbers of those, Catholic and Protestant 
alike, who filed past the plain black casket for a last 
look at the beloved face could scarcely be estimated. 
The Guards of Honor alternated during the night, in 
watching, until the Clergy began the Office of the Dead 
the following morning. 

The Pontifical High Mass of Requiem was cele- 
brated by Bishop Monaghan, whose assistant Priest 
was the Rev. Dr. Fletcher. 

The church was heavily draped in black, but, know- 
ing the desires of the late Bishop, everything was con- 
ducted with marked simplicity. Could he have spoken, 
how tenderly would he have greeted the great number 
209 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

of children from the Orphan Asylums, he so loved, 
gathered there to honor their devoted Benefactor! 

An eloquent eulog)r was preached by the Rev. Wil- 
liam Temple, D.D. (beloved by the deceased as one 
of " his boys "). The preacher took for his text: 

" Give, and it shall be given to you : good measure, well 
pressed down and shaken together and running over shall they 
give into your bosom. For with the same measure that you 
shall mete withal, it shall be measured to vou again." St. Luke 
vi. 38. 

" Could the lips that are now closed in the coffin be 
unsealed for one brief moment, and give utterance to 
the wishes of the soul that dwelt therein, well we know 
that they would forbid the paying of any tribute to his 
memory. And yet, great soul, so retiring and averse 
to the applause of men, forbear and forgive beyond 
the grave as you were wont to do in life. Not for your 
sake, but for ours, allow some words of grateful ap- 
preciation, on the part of the faithful clergy and people 
of this diocese. 

" You are ours. Your boyhood days, your early 
ministry, your ten years of episcopate, your last Mass, 
all took place within the confines of the Diocese of Wil- 
mington, and now you come to give us the remains of 
that body whose heart loved so tenderly the land of 
its birth and the field of its labors. 

" From the Rt. Rev. Bishop of the diocese, through 
all the ranks of the clergy to the humblest mem- 
ber of the laity, we are all of one mind and one 
heart this morning. We are of one mind in our sincere 
admiration of the nobility of your life, each eager to 
chant the triumphal song of the Saints even while the 
strains of the Dies Irae ring in our ears. We are all 
of one heart, grateful to God for the royal gifts 
showered upon you, and grateful to you for the royal 
way in which you wore the King's purple and bore the 
King's passion. We are of one hope, too, that God 
will give Into your bosom good measure well pressed 
210 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

down and shaken together and running over, the ex- 
ceeding joy of his exultant Saints, for the generous way 
In which were meted out to Him the wealth of your 
soul and the health of your body. 

" There are two ideals of life around us, of giving 
and of getting. Success, so measured by the world, is 
to get. To get joys and toys, goods and gold and 
glory, houses and lands, renown and raiment, on these 
are set the hearts of the children of men. For these 
they labor and spin, these are the treasures they love 
and lay up on earth. Success, as taught by Christ our 
Lord, Is to give. To give, body and soul, to give hopes 
and home and heart, to give service and sacrifice, these 
are the delights of the children of God. To take the 
lowest seat at table, to forego and forget self In wait- 
ing upon the neighbor, these are the treasures they lay 
up in heaven where neither the rust nor the moth doth 
consume, and where thieves do not break through, nor 
steal. ^ Give and It shall be given to you.' So spake 
the Master. So lived his disciple. He gave up one 
thing after another to God and his neighbor. He gave 
up the call of the world for the call of Christ, and few 
men had greater natural gifts for a distinguished career 
In the state. He gave up the joys of family life, and 
no man had a tenderer heart than he for the charms of 
a child. He gave up his early religious belief, and no 
one had been a more faithful follower of its creed 
than he. He gave up the peace of his parochial work 
In the city of Baltimore, and no man's soul was more 
sternly set against the privileges of high places. He 
gave up the powers and prerogatives of the head of 
this diocese, and no man was more keenly sensitive 
to the criticism of good men that would ensue. He 
gave up comfort and convenience, his own way and 
will, whenever an opportunity occurred that would not 
injure the cause of Christ; and what he gave up was 
but a fraction of what he wished to give up for the love 
of God and in imitation of Christ Jesus. 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

" Nor was this generous outpouring of hiinsclf clue 
to any weakness. He was a very Ajax among men, full 
of fire and fiber, but he humbled himself by prayer and 
penance, and the strength of the natural man became 
the sweetness of the heart of Christ. 

" The Saint of Assisi said he so loved Lady Poverty 
because she alone stood by the naked Christ on the 
cross. Our dear Bishop so loved the Lord Truth, that 
for his sake he became naked, divesting himself of all 
things that he might cleave to Him. It was the domi- 
nating principle of his life. Were an artist to sketch 
the workings of his soul he would need but to trace a 
straight line, the shortest distance between his con- 
science and his Creator. Whatever records may leap 
to light in the great Judgment Day, nothing little or 
low will be brought against him. 

'' It was this love of truth that made him so impa- 
tient of pretence and sham, of newspaper notoriety and 
passing applause. What is man in the sight of God but 
a frail and failing creature? Pride, parade, pomp are 
but a form of lie, and against any kind of lie he un- 
sheathed his sword, as against a personal insult. 

" It would be a chapter from the life of a missionary, 
were we to recount the devotedness and the privations 
of his loving and lonely visits to the country parishes 
of this diocese. It would be a page from the history 
of a Confessor were we to speak of the depth of his 
faith, the earnestness of his zeal and the shame that 
bowed his head at every scandal in the church. 

" It would be a narrative from the annals of the mar- 
tyrs, were the story told of his penances and privations, 
of the unceasing warfare by which he overcame the 
vehemence of his passions, and made them subject to 
the law of God. 

*' It would be a passage from the lives of the Saints, 
were an account given of the lonely vigils and the 
lengthy prayers, by which he hallowed the Sanctuary 
of this Cathedral Church, prone on his face before 

212 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

the altar during the long watches of the night, making 
this place indeed a house of prayer and the gate of 
heaven. 

" It would be the echo of the voice of a Master in 
Israel were we to recall the splendid words of persua- 
sive and penetrating power, that bursting from a heart 
overflowing with God's love so often touched the soul 
of the sinner and spurred on the flagging footsteps of 
the Saint. 

" Men do not come from God except through the 
agency of their fellowmen, nor do they return to God 
ordinarily except by the same way. Supernatural as 
well as natural life comes from the ministrations of 
men. If it is a great grace to have a good earthly 
father, it is a still greater one to have a good spiritual 
father. 

*' What a blessing to the priests and people of this 
diocese have been the sanity and sanctity of their late 
Father in God ! It is not so much the written Word of 
God, as it Is the walking and working Word of God 
In a man's life, that keeps virtue alive in the world, 
makes the Church attractive to those outside the fold, 
and Increases the piety and devotion of the faithful. 
The life of Bishop Curtis was an open Bible, illus- 
trated with the deeds of the Saints, and illumined with 
the inspiring and inspired Word of God. His practice 
of the Gospel precepts drew many souls after him In 
the narrow and rugged way that leads to Eternal life, 
and his memory will continue to be a benediction on 
this land of his birth and burial. 

" But like all the servants of Christ, he had his cross 
to bear. The one great desire of his soul was to carry 
the gift of Catholic faith to the eastern shore of Mary- 
land. For this he labored and was not ashamed to beg. 
For this he preached and prayed, that God might 
spread the precious gift of Catholic faith along the 
marshes and among the pines of his native land. For 
this he founded the Religious Community of the Vlslta- 
213 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

tion In this city, that It might by Its prayers and sac- 
rifices obtain one day from God the wish of his heart. 
For this he left his body to dwell among them, that his 
tomb might be a torch to keep aflame towards God the 
deepest desire of his priestly soul. It did not please 
the Providence of God to grant his request, but he per- 
severed in his prayer till the end. A soil that grew 
such a soul is well worth converting to the Church, and 
who knows when God will deign to hear his prayer and 
turn the light of His Countenance upon the level lands 
he loved, and make them flourish with the glorious 
heritage of Catholic faith. 

" God cannot be outdone In generosity. ' Give and it 
shall be given to you.' If God did not give him his 
native land. He gave him the riches of His peace and 
joy; He gave him the friendship of many saintly souls; 
He gave him the respect and confidence of all who 
came Into contact with him; He gave him the loving 
admiration of the people of this diocese and of many 
of the great Archdiocese of Baltimore. But what God 
has given him is as nought in comparison with what 
God will give him. And we are gathered here to-day 
to beseech our good God to be generous to him, to 
give full measure, well pressed down and shaken to- 
gether and running over Into his bosom, that he may 
know now the height and the depth, the length and the 
breadth of the love of God, that he may taste how 
sweet God is and enjoy forever the good things that 
God has prepared for those that love Him, that he 
may rest from his labors, and that his works may fol- 
low him to be his crown, his glory, his exceeding great 
reward." 

Bishop Monaghan read the absolutions after Mass, 
and then, preceded by a Guard of Honor, Including the 
Catholic Societies of the city, members of the Hi- 
bernian Knights, Knights of St. Lawrence and St. Hed- 
wig's Cadets, the body of the dead Prelate was borne 
in solemn procession, amid the continual tolling of 




1^ 



l^ 









^ 



i: 



^ 



i 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

many bells, to its last earthly resting place, in the cem- 
etery within the enclosure of the Visitation Convent. 
Bishops Monaghan, Keiley and the clergy followed 
the pallbearers in closed carriages, and an immense 
multitude lined the streets as the funeral cortege, with 
its precious burden, moved from the Cathedral to the 
Monastery, a distance of about two miles. 

Through the kind and thoughtful arrangement of 
Bishop Monaghan, who wished to give his bereaved 
daughters every possible consolation, the blessed re- 
mains were first carried into the black-draped Convent 
Chapel, amid the plaintive chant of the Miserere by 
the clergy, and placed on an inclined bier, close to and 
directly in front of the open Communion window of 
the grille. 

There his devoted children assembled in the choir, 
advanced to look once more upon that kind and gentle 
face, to touch with their beads and medals the dear 
feet, which had so many times brought to them the 
glad tidings of peace and reconciliation. 

The last absolution pronounced, and final ceremonies 
being concluded, the holy remains were carried to the 
enclosure door, accompanied by the two Bishops and 
all the clergy, who entered the Monastery, passing out 
to the humble cemetery where the religious with 
lighted candles and lowered veils waited near the open 
grave. The burial service v/as read by Bishop Mona- 
ghan, amid the tears of clergy and religious, and the 
body of the great and humble Servant of God was 
lowered into the tomb, while the impressive chant of 
the Benedictus echoed through the quiet Convent gar- 
den. The Bishops and clergy then withdrew, and the 
nuns re-entered their choir, there to chant the Office 
of the Dead for the holy deceased, being more inclined 
to pray to him than for him. 

This sentiment was most feelingly expressed in a 
sermon preached at the month's mind of the holy de- 
ceased in St. Peter's Cathedral, Wilmington, by the Rt. 
215 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

Rev. Mgr. W. E. Russell, Rector of St. Patrick's 
Church in Washington, who closed his remarks on this 
occasion by saying: " While we feel more like praying 
to him than for him, let us nevertheless pray for dear, 
good Bishop Curtis, who fought the good light, ran the 
race and kept the faith." 

Many petitions have been sent to this hallowed spot, 
and the religious love to kneel in prayer on the massive 
granite slab at the foot of the great crucifix; which 
in summer is surrounded by fragrant flowers and wav- 
ing willows, and where the " sturdy " English sparrow 
he so loved is continually chirping; while sweet song- 
sters, the thrush and robin, seem to choose that spot for 
their most beautiful evening song. 

That many graces and favors, not miracles, have 
been obtained at the holy Bishop's grave, is incontest- 
ably true, and it sometimes seems as though his gently 
voiced promise, " I shall be here, I will not leave you," 
were indeed realized. It may not be amiss to speak 
of the widespread " stor\' of the birds." It is one 
which has been greatly exaggerated in its details; but 
the fact remains, that two very young aspirants to the 
religious life were recreating, a few days after the 
Bishop's burial, like little children, not far from the 
cemeter)^ hedge. They entered the gate, and confi- 
dently asked the good Bishop to help them catch some 
of the many beautiful birds flitting through the grounds 
and resting in the trees. After the petition they tested 
their faith, and their loved Father's remembrance, and 
indeed their childlike, spontaneous prayer was heard. 
They took in their hands, and without diflliculty, sev- 
eral birds which at once flew down and allowed them- 
selves to be fondled and gently caressed by the little 
girls before they were launched again in the air. This 
happened not once, but many times, birds even remain- 
ing on their heads and shoulders when so placed. And 
this is the true version of the stor)\ Similar favors, if 
cited, might not be credited, while countless '' Miracles 
216 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

of Grace " in answer to prayer are the secret of hearts 
which may one day be revealed. 

The faithful souvenir of the saintly Bishop's heroic 
virtue and holy direction lives ever in the hearts of his 
spiritual daughters, and in the memory of many others 
as well. His sacred remains, as a relic reposing in the 
Convent cemetery, are a precious pledge of his oft- 
repeated promise to intercede with God for those he 
loved and cared for here below, and who hope for a 
participation in those endless joys of which he must 
already be in full possession. 

Among those who knew the saintly Bishop best, 
some have thought his death was one of pure love, 
and this, the touching inscription on his tomb would 
seem to confirm. 

Expectans • Beatam • Spem 

Et • Adventum • Glorias • Magni • Dei 

Hie • Jacet 

Corpus • Illmi • Et • Revmi • DD • 

Alfred! • Allen • Curtis 

Qui ^ 

Episcopus • Wilmingtoniensls 

Die • XVII • Martii • A • D • MDCCCLXXXVI 

Renunciatus 

Decimo • Post * Anno 

Onus • Pastorale 

Ultro • Deposuit 

Titularioque • Ecclesiac • Echlncn • Prrcfectus 

In • Civltatae * Baltimoren * Dcccns 

Ab • Emin • DD • Card • Gibbons 

Vicarius • Generalis * Creatus 

Multis • Laboribus 

Potius • Quam * Annorum • Pondere 

Opprcssus 

In • Osculo • Domini 

Die • XI • Julli • A • D • MCMVIII 

iEtatIs-Su:r-LXXVII 

Rcqulescat • in • pace 

217 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

Expecting the Blessed Hope 

And Coming of the Glor>- of Almighty God 

Here lies 

The Bodv of the Right Reverend 

.•\lfred Allen Curtis, D.D. 

\\Tio was appointed 

Bishop of Wilmington 

the 17^^ Day of March in the Year of Our Lord 1886 

After ten Years 

He of his own accord laid down 

The Pastoral Burden and 

\Vas made Titular Bishop of Echinus 

And Vicar General to His Emin. James, Card. Gibbons. 

Weighed down more by Labours than by 

the weight of Y'ears 

He expired 

In the kiss of the Lord 

The 1 1^^ Day of July in the Year of Our Lord 1908 

In the 77^^ Year of his age. 

May he rest in peace. 

With the heartfelt wish that this humble attempt 
to portray the saintly Bishop's '' Life and Character- 
istics," may increase an hundredfold the number of 
his admirers and imitators, these pages shall be closed 
in his own devout words : 

'' Let us honor all the Saints, but especially that 
numberless army of unknown Saints. The canonized 
Saints, who are few compared with the former, have 
been capable of practising heroic virtue, virtue which 
is beyond our attainment. But we will consider the vast 
army of unknown Saints who have no history, who 
lived the same common life that we do, who did com- 
mon things uncommonly well, who toiled, waited, suf- 
fered; who believed, hoped, loved and repented, these 
we can imitate." 



218 




fi 



K 



PRW^OR THE SOU' 



iRT-REV-ALFRED-A-CURTIS-DD 

I SEC0NDBISH0P0FWIL11INCT0N 
; C0NSECRATEDN0VEMBER141886 

' DIED JULY- 11 1908 

IDLAL- CHAnPION \ 

} OF- THE 

! MISSIONARY- LIFE 

FOR THIS COUNTRY 

' MAY- HE REST- IN PEACE 



li^V) -' > 'I',-" ■ '^x*. ■ ••' ■ 



J 



^/)^u^e jf^^u>lm/ ^:i(a6/e^ 



LETTERS 

IN this very incomplete collection of personal letters to vari- 
ous friends will be found many of the Bishop's characteristic 

traits ; his unswerving uprightness, tender, affectionate heart, 
pleasure in innocent recreation and loyalty to his friends. 

"His last days were spent in making sure that there should 
not be left a jot or tittle of his writings," says one of his ad- 
mirers.^ This is confirmed by the holy Bishop in a letter writ- 
ten a short time before his death when learning that some of 
these valuable epistles had been preserved: " Those letters con- 
tradict, I fear, my intention to leave no writing behind me 
when I go. I have already had several auto-da-fe and nothing 
will be found in my own possession save some annotations here 
and there, of books which no one will be likely to find, or be 
able to read, even if they should be found. But the letters I 
have been so unwise as to write I can't control. I have not 
erred of late even as to letters. But time was when I was not 
so careful as to putting myself on paper as I at present am." 

The five letters which follow were addressed to a Religious: 

Wilmington, Del., October 25, 1890. 
My dear M. : 

I am very glad indeed to hear that you are well, and no 
doubt as happy as it is safe to be. I did not mean to complain 
at all of your silence, though what I said may have suggested 
as much ; for writing often implies, or seems to imply, what one 
does not really intend ; to say nothing of the greater defect of 
not suggesting what one does really mean. I am very far from 
wanting you to write for my pleasure. Do so only when you 
wish it for any reason whatever, and even for no reason at 
all, should you have the slightest desire to communicate with 
me. I am never burdened with letters, first, because I do not 
receive very many, and next, because I answer them as soon as 
received. 

What I said when I last saw you was very far from the In- 
tention of suggesting greater reticence to you. It applied to my- 

* Taken from notice of " Lights and Counsels " in " Extension Maga- 
zine," by Rev. Thomas V. Shannon. 

219 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

self, and not to you, and signified that I had taken up as much 
of your time as I feel free to claim. . . . 

I am sure you pray for me as 1 for you. How strangely 
things come about! You are glad that you are in religion, and 
I am every day more thankful that God would not let me be- 
come a religious. 

Yrs. faithfully in Xt., 

iJiA. A. Curtis, Bishop of fFilmington. 

Easton, Md., January 4, 1891. 
My dear M.: 

I heard the sad news yesterday at the Station in Washington. 

I would gladly have returned to or remained in had 

I been able. Not that I could have done anything for you or 
the others, but simply because thereby I should have more evi- 
dently shown my sympathy with you all. But duty in the most 
imperative way forbade this. And hence nothing is left me but 
to write you a line to say, what you know without my saying it, 
namely, that my heart and my prayers are with you in your 
trouble. I said the iVIass for him this morning as much as I 
could, it being a people's day. I have also said my office for him 
since I heard of his departure. I was so glad to be assured that 
for a good while he has been regular in his use of the Sacra- 
ments. You must try not to be too much cast down by the sud- 
denness and unexpectedness of the blow. Some with little 
sense might see in it a bit of divine disapproval of what you 
were doing. But you know better, and understand that it is 
merely God's taking you at your word, and giving you at the 
start the opportunity of signally showing that you know and 
mean what you do. May He bless you. 
Yrs. faithfully in Xt., 

iJlA. A. Curtis, Bishop of Wilmington. 

Wilmington, Del., March 30, 1891. 
My dear Child: 

Your letter reached me w^hen I was so very busy that I could 
not well find the time in which to answer it. Besides I thought 
it as well to wait awhile ere answering. The older I get the 
more I become afraid of myself, and the less disposed to counsel 
others, if I can fairly avoid doing so. In taste, as well as in 
principle and conviction, I am so much at variance with so many 
far better than myself, and am so much disposed to see nothing 
but my own view of a question, that I fear more and more to 
advise others and fear most of all the having to advise at once 
and without prior consideration. And this combined with much 
220 



Letters 

more work than I ought to have undertaken, caused me to defer 
writing to you till to-day. And even now that I am writing 
I can think of nothing better than such mere generalities, as will, 
I am sure, be of small service to you. First, then, anything not 
evidently sinful is better than singularity unnecessarily incurred, 
so while you yourself seek no indults or dispensations, yet I am 
sure you should cheerfully accept, and in good faith use all of 
both recommended you, it being understood, of course, that you 
are first free to represent frankly why j^ou suppose yourself not 
to need or desire exemption. But this being done, 5^ou should 
accept willingly the verdict of authority, however less exacting 
than your own judgment. Secondly, you remember what I tried 
to inculcate when 5^ou were vested, /'. e., that religion is the sacri- 
fice of the will itself, and very specially its sacrifice as to things 
in the abstract good or even the very best of all. So then you 
have but one thing to consider, viz., whether or not you are in- 
wardly and loyally submissive to authority, or trying to be 
thus submissive in the life you are leading. If so, that is the 
end of the matter. In the pursuit of sanctity j^ou may be de- 
ceived, and you will be deceived if you pursue it according to 
5''0ur own lights and after your own bent. But you cannot incur 
mistake or suffer real detriment, no matter what the apparent 
loss, as long as j^ou are thoroughly and strictly under obedience. 
Finally, I am obliged to be in Savannah for the annual meeting 
of the Bishops on the 15th of April, As I return I shall, if pos- 
sible at all, see you, and we can talk over things more fully. I 
shall pray for you, as you will, I am sure, for me. 

Wilmington, Del., July i, 1891. 
My dear Child : 

I do not see why anyone should be very grateful on account 
of a visit from me. And certainly you seemed to value my late 
visit to you much more than I myself fancied to be worth. 

I fully believe that every one should be loyal to his own stead- 
fast inspirations, be the opinions of others what they may, and 
the more loyal, when as in the case in question, the fulfilment 
of those inspirations implies no conflict with or possibility of 
injury to one's neighbors. Therefore, I decide without hesita- 
tion that you do right in adhering to the purpose so long ago 
formed, and since remaining with j'ou. And in the fulfilment 
of the same purpose I shall account it an ho:ior and a benefit to 
be your agent and instrument, depend upon that. I have not 
yet been able to make my visit North. But I think I can ac- 
complish it ere the expiration of the month, and will then find 
a day to run over to j^ou. 

221 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

As to the other matter, I am upon principle much in favor of 

doing charity when one can, ere death. F will, I take it, 

have told you about the consecration. All things considered, 

we went through the function mar\ellously well. F was 

exceedingly kind, and gave for expenses of consecration a sum 
out of which I hope to have enough over with which to buy a 
bell. I am well enough. Don't forget that next Saturday u*ill 
be my sixtieth birthday. Besides your own prayers, get me all 
the other help you can. I do not forget you. May God bless 
you. 

Wilmington, Del., Oaober 15. 1892. 

As to the Salesian Oblates: If I can get the means of es- 
tablishing them, and they are willing and fit to be established 
in the countr}-. or even in some countr>" tov\*n. I shall be glad to 
establish them just as soon as practicable. I shall be most happy 
— indeed much more than is commonly understood by being 
happy — in furthering to the utmost of my power any project, 
looking to the introduction of the Oblates into Wilmington. 

As to the general confession, think no more of making it. No 
such confession would in the least tend to make me know you 
any better than I do. Of that rest certain. To know one 
really now, it is not at all necessan to know that he used to 
have certain warts, or even ulcers of which he is at present free. 
Use your retreat then, not in disinterring and dissecting the 
dead past, but in tiding to bring your present living heart into 
more complete and permanent union with the most Sacred 
Hearts of Jesus and Man. 

The Oblates of St. Francis de Sales, here mentioned, are now 
established in Wilmington, where they conduct a flourishing 
College for bo>-s, besides exercising many offices of the sacred 
ministr}- in the Diocese. 

Cp. Ch.\rles. October 11. 1893. 
My dear Child : 

Yours of the 9th I found here yesterday when I arrived : we 
were frustrated in our purpose to give two nights to Chinco- 
teague Island. The hall there is in use ever\- night on the part 
of some society-, and hence we could not hire it. So after finish- 
ing yesterday at Pocomoke, we came to this place to stay till 
to-morrow, when we go up to Onancock, and the day after to 
Easrville, returning on Saturday to Cp. Charles for Sunday. 
Monday I cross over to Fortress Monroe to get the boat up the 
bay at night to Baltimore, where, on Tuesday, we are to nomi- 
nate for WTieeling. Wednesday morning the Cardinal has his 
222 



Letters 

jubilee Mass; I must assist at that, but by cutting the dinner 
following, I hope to get home Wednesday afternoon. 

It \vi]l be well to notif}- the Oblates that we cannot see Bo- 
hemia before Friday, the 20th. I shall notify the Frs. to ex- 
pect us on that day. We can, after a fashion, lodge two Frs. 
at house, and if necessan* put t^vo more just across the street; 
I don't want them to stop at a hotel. I do hope they may take 
to Bohemia. I am sure I should not object to finishing my own 
da\-s there. Having been so long in use on the part of the 
Jesuits, there must be some virtue and blessing attached to the 
place itself. I am not obliged to go to Rome till '95, though it 
does not look well to postpone a dut)' till the last possible mo- 
ment. Hence I have thought of going, or getting permission to 
send a conmiissar}- next year. But as yet I have settled nothing. 
I am -v^-riting this in the new house. It is really very nice and 
quite sufficient. Altogether the place is immensely improved, 
grass, pavements, drains, etc, etc. I told you that twent}--fi\-e 
years would prove us right, and give us the name of sagacity, 
in so early founding this outpost in the desert. And it appears 
now that my prognostication is going to be verified. Please 
give my love to all, and warn them again how much I depend 
upon their prayers always, and specially here in the wilderness. 
God bless you. 

The Bishop here refers to a journey to the Benedictine 
Convent at Ridgely, Md.. of which mention is made in the 
Biography. 

February- 15. 1S95. 

I managed to get to Balto. to-day after all. though more 
than once yesterday it was doubtful when I should again arrive 
even at Wilmington. The travelling from the station to the 
Benedictine house was through or around any number of snow- 
drifts. I returned to the station yesterday on horseback, as the 
easier and safer form of locomotion. To crown all, after wait- 
ing for hours for the train we stuck fast and had to be dug out. 
I reached home, however, at 1. 30 this morning. Don't forget 
nor let the others forget our mission in Onancock, Va.. begin- 
ning next Monday and lasting till Thursday evening. Besides, 
all of you combine to get me first a little more faith, hope and 
charity, etc. 

The Bishop loved truth for the sake of tnith. and could not 
bear that it be tampered with or made light of, as will be seen 
in the concluding lines of the following letter. They have ref- 
erence to a party purchasing secretly some property for an in- 

223 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

dividual, who had been refused the right of purchase by the 
owner. 

St. Charles' College, September 21, 1895. 

I have already written to promising, God willing, to 

be with you on Wednesday, October 2, and begging the prayers 
of you all for myself and the retreat I am to give here and for 
which I am, with as yet small success, trying to prepare. I hope 
my cry for aid will rouse you all to do the very best you can in 
my behalf. 

I remember Miss B very well. Being as fit as I take her 

to be to die, I am not sorn- to hear that she has been in effect 
called hence. Even could we stay here forever it would be well 
to besiege Heaven for permission to die. And since on the other 
hand die we must, and life means nothing save as preparing for 
death and being consummated in death, the sooner we die the 
better, always provided that we die when and as the Lord 
willeth. I don't like anything savoring of trick even when the 
device promises to be successful, and of course I no more like 
the device when it is sure to fail of its purpose. And in this case 
it certainly would fail. I have time for nothing more than to 
say that I send my blessing to all. 

This letter speaks of work done while the Bishop was Vicar- 
General to His Eminence Cardinal Gibbons: 

St. Ixigo's Manor, St. Mary's Co., ^Iarylaxd, 
July II, 1898. 
I am now nearing the end of my tour; I have three other 
confirmations and then can return. Fortunately we have had 
but one day of real heat, and no rain at all. Hence there has 
been nothing to diminish the classes for confirmation. Up to 
the present I have confirmed more than a thousand. The dust 
and the driving in carriages and the much diversified eating 
expected of one, have been the only disagreeable things. Since 
work this morning, I was driven nearly, or quite fifteen miles. 
Of those confirmed, the colored largely exceed the whites, for 
which I am not sorry. One confirmation to-morrow^ will be 
on St. George's Island, where the first Mass in Manland was 
said. And the confirmation will be the first ever had on the 
Island. I am fond of the Jesuits; they always edify me, and 
treat me as I desire to be treated, viz., with real kindness and 
respect, but without fuss or undue formality. About half or 
rather more of the men in service in St. Mar>''s are very effi- 
cient, and to the people very attractive. 
224 



Letters 

The following letter portrays the Bishop's reverence for 
the exact observance of religious rule, and the determination 
to maintain it " en rigueur," even to the denial of the seemingly 
legitimate desire of one of his spiritual daughters, w^ho, pre- 
vented by a passing indisposition from descending to the con- 
fessional grate, expressed the wish to have him enter the cloister 
to hear her confession. 

November 28, 1898. 

I feel myself specially called upon to maintain the cloister 
with all practicable strictness, and this for several reasons. It 
Is totally against nature, and nature will always, as we say, 
bear w^atching, and sleepless watching too. 

But all the tendencies good and bad of the present time are 
against the cloister, and multitudes in most ways abler and 
better than I am scout it, as an anachronism. On all hands 
among the best you will find plenty who will tempt you to 
forego strictness, but very few who will encourage you to stand 
by that strictness. 

As therefore the strictness began under me and in some sort 
through me, I feel myself the more bound not to relax it save 
for a very sufficient reason, and I did not regard your confes- 
sion, knowing well what It would have been, as such a reason. 

The two following letters written to the Visitation Nuns at 
Wilmington contain some original reflections: 

January 20, 1900. 

Your letter, like most things in this world, is mixed. Good 
news that some one has been found promising to fill the place, 
which as yet I myself have seen no chance of filling. It is the 
old story. Have you a vacancy? You look in vain for one will- 
ing and able to fill it. Have you a person in want of a place? 
Search how you may, no place can be found. It is good news 
then that for once, place and person come together. But it is 

not, humanly speaking, good that Sr. has been so suddenly 

smitten ; she is indeed a very good soul, honest and earnest, tv.o 
qualities not always found In the same person. For my ex- 
perience is that very earnest people are not always to the core 
honest, and less still to the core unselfish. We must simply ask 
our Lord to make her well again for the Community's sake. 

His Lordship dined with us yesterday and deputed me to fix 

the con(h'tIons upon which you are all to gain the indulgence 

of the jubilee. It will be as well to write down these conditions 

now, so that you may begin at once to fulfil them. Each then 

225 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

will make seven visits to the Pieta — one in honor of each of 
our Lord's wounds, the sixth in veneration of the thorns and 
their punctures, and the seventh of the scourge and the gashes 
it left. Length of visit and prayers during the visit are left to 
the choice of each. Love and blessing to all. 

Baltimore, December 14, 1900. 
To be faithful when one is not greatly, if at all, tempted 
to become otherwise, does not signify very much. And I am 
not often or much tempted to spend money upon myself. In- 
stead of spending upon myself, ever since my seventeenth year 
I have found my duty and pleasure in trying to make and save 
for the benefit of others. I can the day after Xmas postpone 
starting home till the 2.09 P. M. train, and this will give me 
time enough in which to go and stay awhile within. As I have 
to act for the Bp. otherwise, it will be quite the thing to make 
his Xmas visit for him. I pray that at Xmas you may all 
arrive at a deeper and more prevailing conviction that there is 
nothing much worth while but the love and lowliness which 
made Xmas. 

" Blessed are the poor in spirit: 

for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven." 

One of his spiritual daughters having drawn this beatitude 
for the Bishop on the eve of All Saints, and mailed it to him 
on a card, received in return the following beautiful reflections 
on poverty: 

Baltimore, November 3, 1901. 
Thank you for the Beatitude. If it were really my Beati- 
tude! If I could but become as poor in spirit as I am in fact. 
If we all could but recognize more and more how poor, and 
more than merely poor we are. Had we this the first and germ 
of all Beatitudes, the rest would surely follow it, and grow out 
of it. 

The following characteristic note has reference to the loss of 
his pocket-book, which the Bishop thought he had left in the 
Convent Sacristy, and after writing to inquire about it, found 
it safe in his overcoat pocket: 

January 15, 1903. 
Dear Reverend Mother: 

" The number of fools is infinite," says Holy Writ, and I am 
daily more certain that I must be included in this number. I 
226 



Letters 

have found my pocket-book; In my overcoat pocket it w^as, as 
I discovered a moment ago. I looked for it there yesterday, as I 
supposed, carefully too, and did not find it. But I looked again 
this morning, by accident, and certain that I should not find it ; 
and yet there it was, and discovered at the first touch. And yet 
how it got there is more than I can divine, for I am sure I did 
not have it in hand from the time I quitted home yesterday 
till I returned, as I never carry it in my overcoat. Perhaps, Sis- 
ter found it in the Sacristy on the floor, and put it in my over- 
coat while I was in the cloister. I don't think Saint Anthony 
did it, because he knew it did not belong in the overcoat. And 
if he had undertaken the job he would not have botched it, and 
virtually hidden from me what I wanted to find. 
Love and blessing to all. 

Xmas, 1903. 
The expressmen are over-burdened, and besides, are get- 
ting, I trust, to-day a well earned rest. Hence they are reserv- 
ing our package till to-morrow, when it will no doubt appear 
unharmed. I promise to use the contents when I shall need 
them. I am doing well enough at present. You may infer as 
much when I inform you that I this morning waked the others 
at 4.30, and then myself went to the confessional to gather in 
any stragglers ; I waited a good while, and bagged after all but 
three or four. Then I said my own Masses and was in time 
for a solitary breakfast at 8 A. M., the usual time with us for 
that meal. I need not say that you and all the others had your 
place in the Masses, as indeed you have place in all Masses as 
well as in everything else. I wish I could be more sure of being 
able thereby to procure you the good I wish and intend. Love 
and blessing to all. 

True as the needle to the pole, the Bishop set out for Wil- 
mington in the face of a terrible blizzard, and after having been 
delayed hours on the way, he reached his destination only to be 
driven back by the storm, for the snow-drifts were so deep that 
it was impossible to reach the Convent, although In sight of it. 
The next day he sent the following letter, explaining the reason 
of his non-appearance on the day appointed for the Sisters' 
confessions: 

Baltimore, January 25, 1904. 

I made an attempt to reach you to-day, but afterwards 

thought It the part of wisdom to retreat beaten. I even got to 

the station at Wilmington. There I found no cab and the cars 

were not running. I forced my way towards you for a short 

227 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

distance. But the wind was so high, the snow so dense and the 
drifts so deep that I deemed it prudent to turn back and shelter 
myself in the station. Thence I took the first train to Balti- 
more. It should have readied Baltimore at a little before i p. m. 
As it was, we arrived a little before 4 p. m. And there were 
times when 1 thought we should be even later, if we should ar- 
rive at all. When nearly half wa\ they put on a second engine, 
and thereby we managed to get through in time, if not on time. 
I don't think I am any worse for the buffeting, and hope to do 
better next Wednesday. Love and blessing to all. 

Baltimore, February 28, 1904. 
You will, I am sure, have heard ere this reaches you, that 

^^Ir. passed onwards and upwards early this morning. 

For Purgatory is far above this present state of things. He 
went as I thought he would, very easily and quietly. I did 
everything I could for him, seeing him always once and some- 
times twice a day. I was with him yesterday evening between 
7 and 8, and gave him absolution and the last blessing, and then 
we all together said in full the prayers for the departing. . I 

was at the house this morning and saw W . He thought 

that the funeral will take place on Wednesday. But could not 
then determine details. I suppose I shall be expected to take 
the Mass, and anyhow I shall want to assist even if another take 
the Mass. Love and blessing to all. 

To a dear friend in the priesthood the Bishop addressed the 
following lines : 

Baltimore, April 2, 1904. 
My dear Ned: 

I start early on Tuesday: I shall go not unwillingly in the 
hope of shaking off grippe once for all. I am not over the 
fourth return thereof. I have at once catarrh of chest and head. 
But it may be my luck to strike cool, disagreeable weather in 
Florida. And there is the more danger of this, as the winter 
there was, I learn, rather warm. 

I am ven^ glad that you are going to leave Snow Hill, not 
only because you could not have rightly sold it for Protestant 
purposes, but because it may yet be needed. You remember 
when we were sorry for the interference which saved Salisbury. 
But you will soon have Snlisbun' erected into a " suffragan see " 
with resident pastor. And no one can tell how soon Snow Hill 
may outstrip Salisbury and become the second suburbican " see." 
appertaining to Cape Charles. Necessary expenses at Snow Hill 
228 



Letters 

for repairs and insurance I will try to meet if you notify me of 
them. Are your emigrants going to buy land at once, or are 
they to be mere laborers for a good while to come ? The former 
I hope, but the latter I fear. As laborers merely they are likely 
to be more restless and fractious. I trust that you may get good 
people. Our weather to-day is splendid, and there is good hope 
that H. E. will be able to go all around out of doors. This will 
do him heaps of good. Medicine would not benefit him half so 
much. If I catch an uncommonly large tarpon I shall send you 
one of his scales. I have left myself free to stay longer if the 
fish should be late in coming to the hook. But I hope this will 
not be the case. Pray for me. 

To the Same. 

June 1 8, 1904. 

I find your letter of the 4th on my return from St. Mary's, 
which happened at 3 A. m. to-day. The trip was rather fa- 
tiguing on account of so much driving in carriages — a thing 
which I hate bitterly. But I had some consolation in the confir- 
mations which came in all to 1060. I had, moreover, a restful 
day on the steamboat yesterday. I went across from St. Inigo's 
to George's Island and embarked at 8 A. M. We spent the day 
in running up and down Virginia rivers, the Yoacomico and 
Coal rivers, and returned to St. Inigo's at 5 p. M. yesterday, 
or rather we went by St. Inigo's at that hour, for the boat does 
not stop at the place itself. 

I am glad your statement shows a balance on the right side, 
and I quite agree with j^ou that we should be v/ell off if we 
could manage the spiritual as we do the material. But most 
Priests, as it seems to me, do not recognize that the tv/o are very 
distinct, and that while the one may advance by leaps and 
bounds, the other may be lagging, languishing and dying. We 
have, I suppose, become conformed to that by which we are en- 
compassed. For the whole American nation boasts only of ma- 
terial advances. It certainly has not advanced in lowliness, and 
in the recognition of the futility of all efforts and achievements, 
merely and solely human. Pray for me. 

To the Same. 

Baltimore, September 7, 1904. 
I am very sorry the cigars were so very bad. I want to 
help the poor fellow. But I cannot do so by accumulating 
weeds that no one will smoke. If he would permit me to give 
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Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

him his commission and let him sell, if he can, the cigars to some 
one else, he would be as well oft", and I should be saved money. 
But this I am sure he will not permit. I heard that Semple 
S. J. is to preach your retreat next week, and this I hope was no 
mistake. For you will like him, I know, exceedingly. He is a 
southerner, which means a good deal to me, and no doubt quite 
as much to you. He is simple and frank and kind. ... I am 
very glad the Bp. proposes to cultivate Salisbury. If he accom- 
plish much, and I trust he will, it will be the case of some sow- 
ing and others reaping. For all in all there has been for many 
years a good deal of sowing in that place. But until lately 
nothing came of the sowing, save perhaps some increase of 
merit on the part of the sowers themselves. Pray for me. 

To the Same Friend. 

Baltimore, June 19, 1906. 
I don't believe a word as to fish biting at or near Cape 
Charles. I will undertake to catch more in Bush River at one 
fishing than you will get in both your outings. I got two dozen 
there yesterday, and if I could have begun two hours earlier, I 
am persuaded I should have much more than doubled my catch. 
Among the two dozen were a two-pound bass and a white perch 
of one pound or nearly. The rest were mostly of fair size. Be- 
sides, I had not much if any less, than eight miles of rowing. 
There was but a whif? of wind now and then, and the whiff was 
now from one, and now from another quarter. Much of the 
time I fished without an anchor, so sailing was impossible. But 
it was hot as blazes. I go on Saturday to McNamara at Bene- 
dict, and thence with him early — ver}- early on Monday to 
Solomons. We propose to sail back to Benedict on Tuesday, 
there being no steamboat up till Thursday. Since the Pennsyl- 
vania came to include the Chesapeake among its many other 
possessions, the schedule is much altered. Pray for me. 

To the Same. 

July 4, 1906. 
I reserved my answer to your last letter till my return from 
Benedict and Solomons. I got back late yesterday afternoon. 
I found McNamara as good and efficient as ever. He is making 
quite a name for himself as a speaker. Sunday was given to 
Benedict. I had to make three speeches: the first at 8 a.m. 
Mass, the second at the 10 a. m. Mass, the third at the Confir- 
mation at 4 P. M. At 5.30 A. M. on Monday we started on the 

230 



Letters 

steamboat to Solomons. At night another speech and small con- 
firmation. All the time it was hot, hotter, hottest. We had 
proposed to sail back to Benedict after the Confirmation, start- 
ing about 8.30 P. M. But one of the congregation consented to 
run us up in his gasoline launch. This we deemed better, so 
at 8 A. M. on Tuesday we set out. I stood and steered the 
launch the eighteen miles; we made the trip in 2^ hours. 
From Benedict we drove seven miles to Hughesville, and there 
got train at 1 .30 P. M. With two changes of cars and a wait 
of half an hour at each junction, I got to Baltimore about 5.45 
p. M. Sullivan has given up his boat and taken the hotel in- 
stead. I am afraid the change will not be to his advantage pe- 
cuniarily. During the summer the place will be filled, and 
after that nothing. And as he has no accidentals in the shape of 
bar, billiard-table, etc., he is certain to be rather out than in, at 
the end of the year. Pray for me. 

The following choice lines on the death of an infant show 
that a poetical vein existed in the Bishop's great mind, otherwise 
so matter of fact : 

August 6, 1906. 

L 's baby was a wise little thing when, having sipped a 

little of life, she resolved to take no more of it, and to exchange 
it at once for a better life, where the sweet is not so often over- 
powered, and more than simply nullified by the bitter and 
nauseous. 

To a Clerical Friend. 

Baltimore, August 17, 1906. 

I am not long back from fishing. I was obliged to be an 
hour or two late and so got only a dozen, whereas had I been 
two hours earlier I should have filled my basket with good fish. 
Nothing can be done at Bush River save on the last of the flood 
tide. And that tide was a little past when I began fishing this 
morning. I thought of going early enough to get the high tide. 
But I found myself wanted to say the 6 o'clock parochial Mass, 

F having a funeral at a later hour. But anyhow I had 

the break and the air and exercise, and they are the main things. 
Our retreat begins Mondav the 27th, and a Paulist, Fr. Smith, 
is to take charge of us. He is a good fellow and I like him, 
but when we had him before he seemed to me to lack ginger. 

I am very sorry for J . But after all is it not the good 

people who cause us most solicitude and anxiety. So it seems to 

me. And certainly he is in the main a good fellow. I hope he 

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Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

will do the square thing, /'. €., admit his fault and cast himself 
on the merc> of the court. We have had a most oppressive 
August. It has been consistently and continuously hot, day and 
night. And to make things worse, the mosquitoes have been un- 
usually numerous and venomous, withal, they are so dreadfully 
cunning. How they get into the screened room no one can say. 
But they do. And not only so, but they hide by day, and a: 
night so long as a light burns. Pray for me. 

To the Same. 

Baltimore, August 29, 1906. 
We are in the midst of our retreat under the guidance of 
Fr. Smith, Paulist. He is doing ver>- well, and showing more 
ability than I had been disposed to ascribe to him. Moreover, 
he has some of the ginger and spice in which I imagined him 
lacking. I confounded some one else \\'ith him. For this is, it 
seems, the first retreat he has ever undertaken in behalf of the 

clerg}- of this diocese. I am glad J was let oft so easily, and 

I hope your prognostications as to similar escapades in the future 
may be falsified by his conduct hereafter. But a bad marriage 
is certainly a dreadful thing, and is never rendered the more 
tolerable by the reflection that it was due entirely to one's own 

fault or stupidit}-. K has a large practice, and so of course 

an excellent reputation. Besides, our boys tell me that he is an 
excellent Catholic. I do not myself know him at all. Saturday 
next I hurr}- from the retreat to get 9 a. m. train to Oakland, 
where I bless a bell on Sunday. On Wednesday after. I con- 
secrate Altars at Wesrernport. On Saturday and Sunday fol- 
lowing I ordain for the Capuchins in Cumberland. After the 
ordination I come home at once, and the day after at 8 A. M. 
I go to Mt. St. Mary's for ordinations, on the nth, 12th and 
13th. During the rest of this month, therefore, and all of the 

next I shall be on the hoof. Pray for me and assure Mrs. 

of my s}Tiipathy and prayers. 

October 31, 1906. 

Last Sunday's weather could not have been called with 
truth a snow storm, but there were gusts and flurries of snow 
more than once, and the thickest and worst of the flurries came 
just as the Confirmandi were out of doors, passing from the 
place of assembly into the Church. 

The round was rather a long one, but netted ver\- nearly 
I2CX). On the whole I went through it fairly well, but I was 
none the less glad to reach my own place yesterday, at or a little 
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Letters 

after midnight. I am not nocturnal at all in my flittings, but 
I ciphered it out, that as some hours had to be taken from the 
night, it would be as well to take them from its beginning as 
from its end ; /. e., it seemed as cheap to stay up longer as to get 
up an hour or two sooner. 

At Christmas of 1906 he writes to one of the clergy engaged 
in country missions: " I am going to send you for your Xmas 
gift two tubs of candy, so that you may be able to make ever so 
many of your little ones, at least for awhile, happy. And after 
all one cannot, I think, on earth expect to be more than tempo- 
rarily happy." A little later the announcement of the arrival 
of the tubs called for the following: 

Baltimore, December 28, 1906. 

I am glad the tubs reached you safely and in time. I was 
beginning to get uneasy lest they had failed to reach you. Just 
now expressmen are under a cloud, and are, I fear, justly ac- 
cused, not only of collecting when things have been prepaid, as 
your tubs were, but of wiping the things out and out, now and 
then. My Xmas gift came in the form of a very bad back. 
It does not bother me much when I am still, but any turn or 
twist tempts me to scream, and in fact does make me grunt and 
groan a little sometimes. I am afraid Russell and you may col- 
lide with another freeze, in which case the duck will be not only 
few, but worthless. 

Our Xmas was as usual. The Cardinal pontificated morn- 
ing and afternoon. The Vespers were good, but I missed the 
usual volume of sound. The students are much fewer, and 
among them not many good voices. Pray for me. 

The following lines show what a close embargo the Bishop 
kept on nature and its cravings to the very end of his life, even 
denying himself that which was necessary to him who was liter- 
ally dying on his feet — for it was in this year he began to fail 
rapidly : 

Baltimore, May 11, 1907. 
You do well to fear the nipping habit. I fear it too, so 
much so that I never buy whiskey for my own use. More than 
once some has been sent to me and I have used it. For more 
than a month I liave felt in my wrestling with grippe that a 
little whiskey two or three times a day would be a great help 
to me. But I had none and would buy none, so I have fought 
on without any. I am about the same, on my feet and doing 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

what must be done, but never myself and sometimes much less 
so than at others. To-morrow afternoon I shall confirm from 
five hundred to seven hundred Poles, and how I dread the task. 
There should be a confirmation in such populous places every 
year, otherwise the numbers are too great. It is hard on the 
people who pack the church till it is hardly possible to supply 
them witli breathable air, and it is nearly killing to the Bishop. 
Yes, the trouble is to find one who is so unvitiated by city 
life, that he can content himself happily with rural work. If 
the mission houses do nothing, as you say, save to convince men 
that some one must look after the scattered sheep, they will 
have earned the deepest and best gratitude of the Church. It 
puzzles me to discover what people find so attractive in large 
cities, with their racking noises and evil smells, to say nothing 
of their great masses of dire poverty, and loathsome vice. Pray 
for me. 

June 27, 1907. 

Is Jim going to better himself as policeman? I am sure 
the town will be the better for him, for he is strong, honest and 
fearless. But will he be the better for undertaking to supervise 
the town? I hope so, but I have a great fear as to the perma- 
nent good of office holding in these times. In fact, I cannot re- 
call any one during my long life who was ultimately the better 
for oflfice. 

I am fairly well and so glad for the country's sake that the 
summer seems to have arrived at last. I don't like the heat, but 
it does not hurt me, and for the country people who always have 
my greatest sympathy it is nothing less than necessary. They 
have already suffered much. I saw not a single cherry, for ex- 
ample, in all St. Mary's County, and the pears fared no better. 

I went to Bush River yesterday and hooked two eels at one 
time. One being such a bother, imagine what were two. 

Writing to a Visitandine nun from Florida, where he had 
been persuaded to go for a little rest, he says : 

Sarasota, Fla. 

The day is most exquisite. At 9 a. m. the thermometer at 
70 degrees, the sky brilliantly clear, and the air still. Birds all 
around us all day long: mockers, red birds, robins, jays, doves 
and one dear little fellow which with the most musical of voices, 
all day long sings nothing but: ** St. Peter, St. Peter." 

It has been too early for tarpon, so instead of toiling strenu- 
ously in pursuit of them, I have taken it easily. In the air and 



Letters 

sun nearly all the time save when in bed, and even then I have 
been almost out of doors, for the three large windows of my 
room have been all fully open day and night. Mass every morn- 
ing, beads and prayers in the evening. A little rowing and fish- 
ing after breakfast, and then a good floating on the gulf water. 
In the afternoons, from five to eight miles of walking and ex- 
ploring. I have been hoping to find a rattle snake, but the 
nearest I have come to it is to have met a man in a path I was 
following, who had in his hand the skin of one killed at the 
side of the path a few minutes before. He proposed to sell the 
skin for at least two and perhaps three dollars. One of the 
fads of the women is to have belts of snake skins. It is, you see, 
an ill wind which blows good to none. Even fads and rattlers 
profit some of the very poor people here. My love and blessing 
to all, and thank all for having by their prayers made things so 
nice for me here. 

Yrs. faithfully in Xt., 

A. A. Curtis, Bp. Tt. of Echinus, 



235 



PART SECOND 

I 

SPIRITUAL COUNSELS 



INTRODUCTION 

THE reader of these salutary Counsels of the late 
Bishop Curtis cannot fail to recognize that the 
holy Prelate is revealing the inner sanctuary of his own 
soul. To those who enjoyed the blessed privilege of 
living under his spiritual direction, and who tasted some 
of the secrets of his daily, nay hourly, communings with 
God, the sweet task of compiling these reminiscences 
has been reserved. 

In the Spiritual Entertainments held with his daugh- 
ters at the grille, during little retreats preceding the 
various feasts of the year, at the Annual Visitation, 
and on other occasions, he revealed the strength of a 
very sweet and tender piety, which gave unction to his 
every word, while in his more familiar conversation 
with them, he spoke of himself and his happenings 
with a spontaneity of which he seemed little possessed 
when dealing with the world. 

In his visits to the Community, where he filled the 
double office of Spiritual Father and Confessor for a 
number of years, many were the pious subterfuges re- 
sorted to by his children, for exploring the rich mine 
of his wise and solid counsels. At such times he would 
respond to their various questions with an abandon- 
ment charming in its simplicity. 

These encouraging lessons have been carefully gath- 
ered, and faithfully preserved as so many precious 
maxims, which may serve those who, having the same 
needs and desires, require help and encouragement. 

For example, what a depth of Interior life is con- 
tained in the following: " Make of your whole soul 
an eye, and fix it on Christ." Or: " Find God in the 

239 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

depths of your soul, and then leave yourself to Him, 
just in the state that you are in at the time." 

Again: " Yield yourself up to our Blessed Lord a 
thousand times a day, cleave to Him, keep the desire 
of union with Him, hut leave to Him the choice of the 
means to effect it. If we choose them, we will make 
mistakes; let us leave the care of success to our Lord." 
What more original and forcible for gaining the atten- 
tion of his hearer than the following: "Write this in 
the bottom of your heart and keep it there." Or at an- 
other time: " This is for always." 

But the pet theme of the holy Director and of which 
he never tired speaking, was the lowly, hidden virtue 
of humility, In the practice of which he, himself, ex- 
celled, to the complete forgetfulness of self. " True 
sanctity," he says, " consists in being sweetly, sweetly 
content to be nothing. Any other kind of sanctity Is 
one-tenth for God, and nine-tenths for self." 

The following collection of charming extracts taken 
from his instructions and advice given at various times, 
contains the quintessence of true virtue, and the solid 
manner of practising It. 

It Is impossible In reading these salutary counsels 
not to feel that the speaker is revealing his own beauti- 
ful soul, all steeped in charity, humility, detachment 
and other solid virtues. To those who knew him the 
very tone of his voice will be recognized, and his quaint, 
original expressions may be likened to some old adage 
or striking proverb. 



240 



SPIRITUAL COUNSELS 

r aiHE value of time. " Let us try to get a clear idea 
Ji of the value of time, especially valuable, since it 
is limited, and going at each moment; precious, because 
it is limited, and by no possibility can we recall the mo- 
ments when once passed; infinitely precious, because 
unlike any other good, it cannot be stored up and put 
away. Let us ask the Blessed Virgin to help us to be 
more steadfast in our determination to employ each 
moment, as it is given us to merit, to use each moment 
as best we can, till we come to the last moment upon 
which the whole of eternity depends." 

*' // we seek God everywhere, we will everywhere 
•find Himy " Let us ask for the grace to find our Lord 
in everything and everywhere; not only in what is 
called a Sacrament, but in all our duties. Our Lord 
wished to teach us this in the Gospel, when He fed the 
multitude. 

" It was not done in a temple, there was no priest con- 
nected with the ceremony, there was no rite, nor sign, 
nor symbol, no religious ceremony, but it was in the 
desert. He wished to teach us to find God, not only 
on the Altar, in the Sacraments, but everywhere; for 
He is in all things, and in them with His tenderness, 
His goodness and His beatitude, to make a real and 
intimate communication of Himself to us." 

Fidelity to little things. '' Let us honor the baby- 
hood of our Lord, that from His littleness and weak- 
ness we may learn the value of little things; for this 
world, vast as it is, is made up of little things. So 
our lives are made up of little things, one breath at a 
time, never two; one minute, never more at a time; 
241 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

one heart throb, one thought, one action — directed 
and bound together by purity of Intention, become great 
in the sight of God. The world is made up of atoms, 
and Hfe Is a series of little things; we must not wait for 
a great action, but practise fidelity, fidelity, fidelity, my 
children, to little things." 

*' Blessed are they who hear the word of God and 
keep it." Luke xi. 28. " God is continually speaking 
to you in your own soul; you must listen to Him and 
then obey Him. But to hear Him you must keep your- 
self very recollected and in peace, and then do what 
He tells you, for ' Blessed are they who hear the word 
of God and keep it.' " 

Detachment. " Let us try to learn better and bet- 
ter what Christ is to us. Let us take to heart the lesson 
taught us in last Sunday's Gospel; that it was not the 
successful, wealthy and joyous that partook of the 
Feast, but the wayfarer, the lame, the blind, the halt 
and the constant; so if we are attached to anything 
but God, we will not partake of this Feast. Detach- 
ment ! Oh, how we are attached, and to so many things, 
we cling to so many things; but, we will try to learn 
this lesson of detachment from all things, that we may 
partake of this Feast, which is made by God, and is 
God Himself." 

'' It is expedient for you that I go." "If we keep this 
lesson before our minds, it will give us the dispositions 
to allow our Lord to take from us all, even Himself; 
then there will be no eagerness, no hurry, no blaming 
others, but we will remain In repose and in equality of 
mind. In all that the Lord takes from us, He never 
does, nor never will, nor never can take from us, but to 
give something better in its stead; taking from us in 
life to give us more in death, and having always our 
greatest good in view." 

" In the prayer of Holy Church we find these words : 
* You are dead and your life Is hidden with Christ in 
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Spiritual Counsels 

God.' * If ye be risen with Christ seek the things that 
are above.' Col. ill. i. Ah! if we wish to rise with 
Christ, we must die with Christ. These and similar 
prayers Holy Church gathers at this season of the 
year, to teach us to die to all things, and thus to acquire 
the peace and the rest of the dead. They are not 
disturbed by the troubles, agitations and turmoils of 
this earth, so in the measure we detach ourselves from 
good and bad, perfect and imperfect, within and with- 
out, God will do His part, which is, to reward us, by 
giving us peace and rest of soul." 

Fraternal Charity, " Let us take to heart that awful 
command given by our Lord in the Gospel. If you 
come to the Altar to offer your gift, and there remem- 
ber that your brother has anything against you (not 
that you have anything against him) leave there thy 
gift. That is, leave that solemn, awful duty of the 
Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, to go and be reconciled to 
thy brother, then, come and offer thy gift." 

" Ask for nothing, and refuse nothing^ St. Francis 
de Sales. " That wisdom which we see practised by the 
leper in the Gospel, is the same as that contained In 
the saying of St. Francis de Sales: ' Ask for nothing, 
and refuse nothing,' although the leper lived so many 
years before St. Francis. 

" When the leper presented himself before our Lord, 
he did not ask for anything, nor did he refuse anything. 
He simply said: 'Lord, if Thou wilt. Thou canst 
make me clean.' Now this will be our attitude before 
our Lord, who knows better than any one else, what 
we need to please Him." 

Fidelity. " If we were always faithful to our voca- 
tion, if we lived up to our vocation, if we were always 
faithful to our duties, we would be among the Seraphim 
in Heaven. Let us keep our mind open towards 
Heaven to receive light and grace, paying no attention 
to created things, determined to do the Will of God 

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Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

Ill all things. If we cared only for our Saviour and 
His inspirations, and for nothing else, we would be 
with the Seraphim and the Lord would be our God 
and Creator, and our All, forever." 

Patient JVait'ing. " We see our Lord in the Blessed 
Sacrament waiting, sweetly waiting for years, not only 
for the multitude, but for each individual soul, and 
when we go to Him, He receives us as if we had not 
kept Him waiting. What a contrast to our natural 
activity, which w^ishes to have everything at the mo- 
ment. We hurry and even take things out of the hands 
of God; instead of waiting, we spoil everything. Still 
more must we wait for ourselves, until God's work is 
done. He will care for it, if we will only leave it in 
His hands." 

" The grace recommended us to pray for In the 
Gospel Is patience. Patience, not In pain and suffering, 
but patience In w^alting for the development of our 
spiritual growth, moment by moment, without anxiety. 
We ask for God's love, and we expect It right away; 
we ask for humility, and we want it right away. No, 
we have to labor through life, to reap the fruit in 
Eternity." 

Charitableness does not depend on our feelings hut 
on our '■Juill. " Well, it Is not w^hen we feel most char- 
itable, that we are charitable, nor when we feel the 
least so, that we are so. Often people look like devils 
when they are Angels w^Ithln, and on the contrary, often 
feel like Angels, when they are devils within. So, I 
say, we cannot judge by our feelings. Our feeling char- 
itable does not make us so, but we are charitable when 
we will it. Let us be encouraged by the fact, that when 
we think ourselves the greatest sinners, we are most 
pleasing in the sight of God." 

We are blind when zve zvish to go'vern ourselves. 
"We arc nothing and can do nothing; we are blind, 
dull and Insane when we want to govern ourselves; 
244 



Spiritual Counsels 

and only in proportion as we become conscious of this 
truth, shall we have that true wisdom, which comes only 
from God. I say only in proportion as we shall be 
thoroughly convinced of our utter weakness, shall we 
have possession of God. Let us then abandon our- 
selves absolutely to God, that God may be ours; for 
God and self cannot dwell together." 

Our Lord's life in us. " We share in the office of 
Saint Joseph in protecting the life of our Lord, by pre- 
serving His life within our souls. We can nourish it 
by doing His will. His life in our souls, in one sense, 
is more precious than the life that Saint Joseph pro- 
tected from Herod, for He gave up that life, to pro- 
cure His life in our souls." 

The Will of God. '' This life Is called the land of 
many: Heaven is the place of oneness. Here we are 
at one time happy, — again unhappy; one moment 
patient; the next moment impatient; sometimes char- 
itable, another time uncharitable; now we remember, 
again we forget, ever shifting back and forth. Let us 
beg the Spirit of God to give us that spirit of oneness, 
that we may have the grace to persevere In this war- 
fare. ... It is difficult to know the will of God, when 
things please us, satisfy us and give us consolation; 
but when in pain and suffering, burns and heart-stlngs, 
we obey. Ah ! then we are sure and certain that we are 
doing the Will of God." 

On Silence. " Let us ask Mary to help us to get 
the gift of silence. How she kept silence ! never telling 
Saint Joseph what had been accomplished In her favor. 
She was silent! And we see in the Gospel that our 
Lord was jostled on all sides; all were anxious to be 
heard and helped by Him; and there came up behind 
Him a lowly soul. In silence, and touched Him as 
lightly as a leaf touches the ground on which It falls, 
In silence. Our Lord said: ' Who has touched Me? ' 
So we will strive for that exterior silence as far as it 

245 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

Is compatible, but still more for that interior silence. 
In raising the dead, our Lord would do nothing until 
He had dismissed the crowd, that in silence He might 
work." 

The Gift of Fear. " We should ask for fear, the 
right kind of fear; not fear of God, for He is always 
the kind, beneficent Father; He has never been any- 
thing else to us but infinite Goodness. We should ask 
for the salutary fear of ourselves, — ever changing, 
never to be trusted, weak, cowardly, selfish, useless; — 
never more to be suspected than when we feel our- 
selves secure. There Is still another fear which should 
be combined with this fear of ourselves; It Is the fear 
of the devil; ever on the watch, never wearied out, 
cunning, knowing well our weak points, and how to 
render them useful to his designs to destroy us. It Is 
this fear combined with the fear of ourselves that we 
should ask for. It was when the house was swept and 
garnished that the devil returned with greater force." 

Have we anything in the place of God? " Let us 
pray that we may learn more thoroughly the lesson In 
the Gospel of St. Matthew, namely, watchfulness, to 
test and discover whether we are really in earnest. We 
find this servant cast out for not having on the wed- 
ding garment, which shows us that though we may be 
doing just what God calls us to do, we may still be In 
fault. The farmer was called by God to be a farmer; 
the merchant to be a merchant. They may have begun 
well, but In time, put something in the place of God. 
It may be one thing now, and something else further 
on, but if It takes the place of God, It has destroyed the 
wedding garment. We all have need to watch and to 
test ourselves by this rule: Have we anything In the 
place of God? for we are always taking His place 
from Him. It may be our method of prayer, our medi- 
tations or our Communions. They were for God and 
we put ourselves in His place; then our wedding gar- 



Spiritual Counsels 

ment Is not on. In everything however good, it may 
even have been ordered by God; if we do this very 
thing for another purpose, then we have taken God's 
place by that thing. So let us test ourselves, that we 
may not be cast out even for doing good things, which 
if we did not do, we would be in fault." 

Our failings are more useful to us than success, 
" Let us ask the Blessed Virgin to help us to make good 
use of our faults and failings, without which, perhaps, 
we would not be saved. Our failings are more useful 
to us than success, for success only engenders pride, 
which hides from us what we are ; our faults and fail- 
ings cause us to see and know ourselves just as we are, 
and this leads to humility, without which, all we could 
do, would avail nothing for Eternity. In the Gospel 
our Lord said: ' Let the wheat and the cockle grow to- 
gether, lest in rooting up the tares you destroy the good 
grain.' So our little faults and failings grow side by 
side with our little efforts for good; let us ask Mary 
to show us how to make the best use of them." 

Little Infidelities. " We never fall notably all at 
once, we come to fall by degrees. As we reach perfec- 
tion by degrees, so we go backward and downward by 
degrees, by little infidelities. Let us keep ourselves 
humble. Oh, if we knew the depths of our ignorance ! 
As soon as we have suppressed or cut off one thing, we 
find ourselves face to face with another, for we are an 
inexhaustible mine of misery. Let us try to realize 
this. Let us take to heart all that may be said of us, 
or to us, even in jest at recreation; sometimes these 
words are real revelations, and our Lord means them 
for us, and we must take them to heart, even though 
they may be uttered inconsiderately. O — h, to get 
rid of self is the work of a lifetime I " 

On Prayer. " October is the month of prayer, not 
so much the prayer of petition, as the prayer of life. 

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Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

The older we grow, the wiser we become, and we are 
so permeated with the truth, that God does all things 
for the best, that we do not feel the need of asking for 
one thing more than for another; and when we cannot 
do this, we can do that which is greater, that is, we can 
behold God, we can withdraw from all that is not God, 
in order to be able to behold Him in silent contempla- 
tion. Only try to love our Lord more, and to become 
more one with Him, then you can trust yourself to His 
mercy, and you will never have more to trust to Him, 
than His mercy is equal to." 

^^ Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ.^* Romans xiii. 
14. " Oh, the wonderful Epistle of Saint Paul! which 
does not tell us only to contemplate Christ, to be in 
union with Him, or even to live for Christ; but to put 
on Christ, to clothe ourselves with Christ, to be iden- 
tified with Him, as a garment becomes identified with 
the person who wears it. Where the person goes the 
garment goes; in whatever the person does the gar- 
ment takes its part, in the movement or act. So we 
must put on Christ that we may no longer live in our- 
selves, or of ourselves, but that Christ may live in us, 
operate in us, accomplish His will in us, so that we may 
say, not in the way the great Saint Paul said it, but 
In our little way: ' I live, now not I; but Christ liveth 
in me.' " 

" We should ask for grace to learn the lesson given 
us in the Epistle of Saint Paul, which shows him to us 
in sufferings of every kind that could come to him from 
man and nature; in scourgings, in cold, in hunger, in 
stonings, in perils by land and sea; and in all this, re- 
joicing, rejoicing that he is thought worthy to bear the 
cross of Christ. So we will ask him to help us to learn 
this secret sweetness found In all that could crucify and 
immolate nature. He knew that his end would be pre- 
mature, but he was willing that his natural life should 
be lost, that he might gain Christ." 
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Spiritual Counsels 

^^ Blessed are the poor in spirit J^ Matt. v. J. 
" Let us take to heart the words of our Blessed Lord, 
they are the first words He spoke in His sermon on the 
Mount: ' Blessed are the poor in spirit' In no way- 
can we better practise poverty of spirit, than in making 
a good use of our time ; for time once gone can never 
be recalled. Oh, how precious is time ! we have but 
one dot at a time, the heart gives out but one drop at 
a time, and when the last drop fails, then we have no 
more time. So let us make good use of our time as a 
thing most precious." 

^' The Kingdom of God is within you!^ Luke 
xvii. 21. "We do well to pray at all times, but es- 
pecially now, during the Octave of the Blessed Sacra- 
ment, that we may be more and more grateful for the 
presence of Jesus, ever abiding with us; but above all 
to be grateful for His presence in the soul of each one 
of us, so that we are not obliged to go here or there 
to seek Him; we have only to turn to Him within, 
where we may always find Him at all times and under 
all circumstances." 

'' They returned into Jerusalem, seeking Him.*^ Luke 
a. ^5. " We find in the Gospel Mary and Joseph 
seeking Jesus. Let us ask them to help us to seek 
Jesus, for the misfortune is, we are always losing 
Him in our eagerness, losing Him in the hurry and 
bustle, losing Him in our labor, losing Him even in our 
solitude; but like Mary and Joseph, we must be ever 
on our guard to seek Him as soon as we perceive that 
we have lost Him." 

" Let us ask the Blessed Virgin to obtain for us the 
grace to do as she did when she found our Lord was 
not with her. She did not waste her time In wondering 
why, or how she lost Him. No, she did nothing of the 
kind, but she dropped everything and went to seek 
Him. So let us do, making a sincere act of sorrow 
for our negligence, and then keeping a closer guard 
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Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

over our heart, where we wish to keep Him, so that we 
shall never be separated from Him." 

'^ I must he about My Fathers business** Luke 
ii. 4g. " And great must have been this business, since 
it was the Father's. How did Christ set about doing 
this business? He did not go about showing Himself 
and talking about this business. No. He sat silent, 
and when spoken to. He answered sweetly and gently 
like a good, dutiful child. He asked questions as a 
child. So we will take these words as the Church pre- 
sents them, not doing our business, but our Father's. 
And this will make it sweeter and easier to rise 
promptly in the morning, going to Mass, office, recre- 
ation, refectory and to our work, as each in its turn 
presents itself, not before it presents itself, because it 
is our Father's business." 

" Whatsoever He shall say to you, do ye.** John 
ii. 5. " We will ask the Blessed Virgin to do for us 
always and everywhere, what we find her doing in the 
Gospel; controlling, arranging and directing in the 
midst of the feast, and giving in secret, unperceived, 
the notice to supply the failure of the wine, that the 
want might not be observed by the guests. We will 
beseech her to see that the new wine of grace, which 
has been given to us, may not grow less under her eye, 
but instead, that it may grow and increase in time and 
Eternity." 

'' JVhy are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? ** Matt. 
z'iii. 26. " Let us take to heart the lesson set before 
us in the Gospel. We there see our Lord, contrary to 
His custom, manifesting His displeasure and rebuking 
His Apostles for their fear, since He was with them. 
How can you fear or be troubled when I am here? 
Where is your confidence? Now, our Lord is with us, 
not in a little boat, but in the Blessed Sacrament, and 
in our souls, ever, ever there. No matter what goes 
250 



Spiritual Counsels 

on around us, our Lord is ever there, in our souls, and 
He is displeased when we do not trust Him and turn 
to Him. Let us look to Him, let us trust in Him and 
the storms will cease, and we shall find eternal peace 
in the haven of everlasting happiness." 

Root out the Tares. " We are told in the Gospel 
to root out the tares, while our Lord says. No, leave 
them alone, lest you root up the wheat also. This our 
Lord says to the world in general, but more especially 
to each individual. If we were to root out the tares, 
we would take for tares what are not tares, so our Lord 
tells us to let them grow together till the harvest. If 
we were left to ourselves, we would root out all our 
past sins, all our infirmities, all our inabilities, all our 
peculiarities, all our incompatibilities, all that draws 
upon us humihation; these we would take for tares, 
these we would root out. But if these were all gone, 
then we would have no ground for self-abasement, self- 
mistrust, penance or humility; therefore our Lord 
says. Let them, the tares and the wheat, grow to- 
gether, that we may have the wheat of perfect obedi- 
ence, and a true and generous contrition for all our 
faults." 

** Having agreed with them for a penny a day, he 
sent them into his vineyard.'^ Matt. xx. 2. " The 
Master of the vineyard went out at different times to 
hire laborers. He agreed with them for a penny a day. 
It was only for a day; our Lord wishing to teach us 
from this, that this life is but a day, and just as surely 
as night follows the day, so will death follow the day 
of this life; just as the day moves on, life moves on, 
and inevitably death approaches. Then even at the 
eleventh hour, the last hour, if we turn to Him we shall 
find Him propitious, and He will say to us: * I will 
be your reward exceeding great.' " 

" We should ask for grace to understand the lesson 
taught us in the Gospel of St. Matthew. The laborers 
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Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

were faithful, they came early, they gave perfect satis- 
faction up to a certain point, but they were wanting 
in charity, without which we cannot see God. They 
murmured because others who came late received the 
same reward as they, who had tolled from the begin- 
ning. Let us pray for that charity which will enable us 
to be pleased when we see others more favored than 
ourselves; yes, preferred to ourselves, that we may 
rejoice that the good Is being done to others, while we 
are overlooked, neglected and forgotten." 

'' Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to he 
tempted.'^ Matt. iv. i. " We should ask the Blessed 
Virgin to obtain for us the power and knowledge to 
make good use of temptation. As we see from the Gos- 
pel, Jesus was led into the desert to be tempted, and 
as we are here to be tried and tempted, we must use 
temptations as God intends us to use them, that we may 
reach the end He has in view, and that we may know 
that the time spent in overcoming ourselves Is well 
spent, and that all our struggles are measured out by 
an all-wise Providence, who always sends sufficient 
grace for us to conquer ourselves. We, too, shall be 
tempted as Jesus was, in strange ways. He was 
tempted to adore satan, so It will be with us; but as 
the Angel came to Jesus and ministered unto Him, 
so too, it will be with us, when our pilgrimage is fin- 
ished, the Angel will come to us, and we shall see that 
the time taken away from pleasure, enjoyment and rest, 
for a higher purpose, was well spent, and then we will 
thank God for the temptations and for the grace He 
gives us to resist them." 

'^ He was transfigured before them^ Matt. xvii. 
2. " Our Lord gives manifestations of what He wishes 
to do In our souls. In the mystery of the Transfigura- 
tion, He wishes to transfigure our souls by prayer and 
silence. By prayer we speak to Him; in silence He 
speaks to us. Let us, therefore, beg the gift of interior 

2C2 



Spiritual Counsels 

silence, that we may learn to recognize and understand 
His voice and follow Him." 

" Let us ask for the great and Inestimable grace to 
see more and more clearly that only when we have left 
behind all that can change, then only shall we reach 
to the unchangeable; that there Is no rest; on, on, — 
always going, — never at rest, not even In enjoying 
our Lord. 

*' We see In the Transfiguration that all was clear, 
bright and peaceful, and the Apostles thought to re- 
main. No, they have to come down to work and toll." 

Feast of the Good Shepherd. " This Good Shep- 
herd has travelled so far and so long. He left Heaven, 
renounced so much, undertook so much, suffered so 
much. You must not take It that He did this for a 
whole flock of sheep, all souls In general, but for one 
sheep — your soul. What journeys, what watchings, 
fatigues and sufferings did He not endure until He 
found this sheep, and then lifting It up with His divine 
arms, with His own strength. He pressed it to His 
Heart, and placing It on His shoulders. He carried It 
until He reached home, to enjoy it for all eternity. 
Our Lord does not do things by halves, He does not 
divide things as we do. He gives all to each one of 
us, all His merits. His graces. His Incarnation, His 
life, death. His Church, His Gospel, the Sacraments, 
His own sweet Mother, His own Body and Blood, Soul 
and Divinity — Himself entirely, and all that He has, 
past, present and to come, throughout all generations. 
If we are penetrated with this thought, by the Spirit of 
God, then It will help us to love God and also our neigh- 
bor; for all that was done for us, was done for our 
neighbor, and we will consider them being carried home 
by the Good Shepherd." 

'* As there is one Lord, so there Is one Good Shep- 
herd, whose power nothing can overcome, whose wis- 
dom governs all, whose tenderness, long-suffering, love, 

-S2> 



T5SS 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

patience and goodness nothing can change, and these 
are inexhaustible. He gives Himself entirely to each one 
of us. God cannot divide Himself. He gives Himself 
with all His possessions; let us reflect upon this, that 
we may love Him and understand how much He bears 
from us. Let us think how safe we are, and that we 
have nothing to fear. For what could harm us? We 
who are not only folded in the arms of the one great 
and wise Shepherd, but enclosed in the innermost 
depths of His tenderly loving Heart." 

*' Let us take to heart the two lessons in the Gospel 
of the Good Shepherd. It has two sides. The good 
Shepherd goes to seek the lost sheep, not the whole 
flock, but just one foolish sheep which has strayed away. 
Let us remember that we are just as senseless before 
our Lord, as sheep in regard to man. And our Lord 
goes to find each one of us, and carries us in His blessed 
arms. He wishes to do all for us. He wishes to carry 
us, that is all He asks, and that is our Lord's side. 
Now our side is, that we must lie still in our Lord's 
arms and let Him carry us. We cannot do great 
things, we cannot be strong or valiant, but we can be 
simple, helpless and meek like sheep, and let our Lord 
carry us. But we don't want that, we want to go our 
own way, we think it is the best way, because like sheep 
we are senseless. So, my children, w^e will try to lie 
still in our Lord's arms, and let Him carry us where 
He will, feeling sure that we are His sheep, and that 
He is our Good Shepherd." 

'^ For many are called, hut few are chosen.'^ Matt, 
xxii. 14. *' Let us ask the Blessed Virgin to obtain for 
us the gift of Faith spoken of in the Gospel. There 
was only one who was so destitute as to be cast out, 
but there were many more who did not partake of the 
feast of God, because they were taken up with grum- 
bling; some were not satisfied with their places; others 
were dissatisfied because some were preferred before 

254 



Spiritual Counsels 

them; some were dissatisfied with the cooking, or with 
the servants, which prevented them from partaking of 
the feast. Now, all these are ourselves; so taken up, 
that we do not realize the feast found in the Church. 
The feast is Faith, which is either dead or languishing 
in certain souls. So we will ask the good Mother to 
help us to vivify that faith spoken of in the Gospel." 

Hunger for Christ. " Ask our Lady to obtain for 
us that hunger for Christ which is so beautifully 
portrayed in the Gospel, the sixth after Pentecost. 
Their own food lasted two days, and then the multi- 
tude looked to Christ; and depended on Him alone, 
when all else failed. So with us ; we have reached the 
first and second day, but the third day we have not yet 
reached when we can do without all created things what- 
soever, and look to Christ alone. Then we shall be 
fed with that food, that heavenly food, which creates 
a hunger, a hunger for Christ alone, and for noth- 
ing else. Let us ask our Lady to obtain this hunger 
for us." 

'' Thou hast not known the time of thy visitation.'' 
Luke xix. 4^. " Let us ask our Lord to teach us to 
understand and value His visitation. We see Him la- 
menting the blindness of the Jews, who would not rec- 
ognize the time of their visitation. Not recognizing 
that blessed moment, we lose what can never be re- 
gained; it has gone forever; for all Eternity we have 
lost what might have been ours. And if we are so 
blessed as to recognize this visitation, we shall be what 
we never could have been without this knowledge; 
and this blessed acceptance of God's visitation will 
bring us peace, joy and rest. It will teach us how to 
get God, to keep Him, and without knowing It our- 
selves, to communicate Him to others." 

The tears of Christ. " Yes, we will be thankful for 
the tears of Christ. We see Him In the Gospel shed- 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

ding tears over Jerusalem; notwithstanding all the In- 
gratitude of the chosen people, His bearing with them 
all along, before and after their captivity, He is loth 
to depart from them; He still clings to them, and it is 
with tears we see Him looking upon the Jewish city. 
So with us, though at times it seems to us that there is 
only a weak, feeble desire to be all His, still we can 
be assured that He will not leave us, even though we 
are often tempted to leave Him." 

''He hath done all things well; He hath made both 
the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak." Mark vii. 
57. " We ought to beg for grace not to make the great 
mistake which we see was made by the people in this 
Gospel. Our Lord when He had cured the deaf and 
the dumb had said: ' Now tell this to no man.' But 
they thought. Oh, what a pity not to let people know 
what a great One is in our midst, thinking that the 
knowledge of His greatness was above obedience. 
We may be tempted to think that our Superior, from 
some incapacity or other, has made a mistake; so we 
do as we think better, and question it, instead of accept- 
ing and submitting." 

" We learn from the Gospel the merit and power of 
obedience. We see from it that the people were so 
thankful, overjoyed and elated that the Saviour had 
come, that they published it far and wide. His miracles 
were talked about, although our Lord expressly said: 
'Tell no man,' yet they did not obey Him; to them, 
the thing seemed good and laudable, so that others 
would come and see the Saviour. Things bad in them- 
selves would become good and harmless if sanctified by 
obedience, while on the other hand, the best things 
would cease to be good If done without obedience." 

''Render to Casar the things that are Cesar's, and 

to God the things that are God's." Matt. xxii. 21. 

" Let us pray that we may have the grace, promptly, 

thoroughly, always and everywhere to understand the 

256 



spiritual Counsels 

lesson held out to us in these words of our Lord : ' Ren- 
der to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God 
the things that are God's.' We are all liable to make 
a mistake down at the bottom, we want to give some- 
thing great, so we add something of our own to render 
to God, Instead of giving Him what is His own; for 
we never have, and never can have, anything of our 
own that is worthy to offer to God. We must offer 
Him ourselves just as we are from moment to moment, 
all our weakness, all our shortcomings, our very selves 
just as we find we are." 

On Confidence in God, " After our Lord had min- 
istered to the sad needs of the body of the paralytic. 
He turned to the soul, which was in a still greater need 
of cure. He said: 'Have confidence, My child,' and 
with these words He infused the required confidence. 
Without this confidence the cure of the body would 
be of little worth, but with this confidence all is ours. 
No matter how we have sinned, or how far we have 
strayed, if we have this confidence In God, all bless- 
ings will come to us with It. Judas would be now with 
St. Peter, If even at the last moment he had had con- 
fidence in the goodness and mercy of his Master. So 
we will try to increase daily in this confidence in God's 
mercy, and bear up cheerfully, steadfastly, and with a 
heart full of gratitude, ever remembering that He who 
requires this from us will carry us on, even to the light 
of eternal bliss." 

'' The gift to ask of our good Mother on her birth- 
day Is, that power and habit of confidence which our 
Lord is never weary of inculcating in such a variety of 
ways, as in the Gospel for the fourteenth Sunday after 
Pentecost. No one ever did, no one ever will, no one 
ever could, perish who trusts in our Lord. Judas would 
not have perished, even after his horrible crime, if only 
he had trusted in the goodness of God. Peter would 
not be where he is now, if he had not had, even in the 
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Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

time of his perfidy, in the depths of his soul, an un- 
shaken, untouched confidence in the unutterable good- 
ness of his Master. Let us ask the good Mother to 
help us, that wherever we are, whatever may be the 
state of our soul, just as we are, however great may be 
the sense of our misery, our perversity, our uselessness, 
we may have confidence in the unspeakable, inexhaust- 
ible, unchangeable goodness of God; that we may con- 
tinually come back to Him., whatever may have come 
between us and our Lord, that He may take it away, 
even by main force, and that our soul may be reunited 
to Him ever more intimately, more powerfully and 
more perfectly." 

'^ Do not touch Me!^ John xx. ij. *' Our Lord said 
to St. Mary Magdalen: ' Do not touch Me, for I am 
not yet ascended to My Father.' This implies that 
there is a closer, nearer, higher way in which we can 
touch our Lord than the way we know of here on earth 
through the senses." 

^'Blessed are those servants zvhoni the Lord when 
He Cometh shall find w at chin g." Luke xii. j/. " Pray 
for the grace to watch for our Lord's coming. He is 
coming always, wherever we are, at all times and places. 
If we are faithful in receiving Him in His hourly com- 
ing, we shall be sure to be on the watch at His last 
coming, and it will not matter to us when, if we have 
been on the watch up to that moment." 

"But one thing is necessary,'^ Luke x. 42. " Well, 
we all know that there is nothing so troublesome and 
embarrassing as a multiplication and accumulation of 
duties. Nor is there anything so helpful as a simplifi- 
cation and unification of duties. This is the lesson 
taught by our Lord in these words of the Gospel. ' But 
one thing is necessary ' — that is, to love God." 

Our Lord puts a question to us every day. " Our 
Lord asked Philip a question. Of course He knew, but 

258 



Spiritual Counsels 

He did this to test Philip and to prove him. To you, 
to me, and to all our Lord puts a question every day, 
and all during the day, and this He does to prove us. 
He says: What do you think of Me? How much do 
you esteem Me? How much do you desire Me? Do 
you love Me? When the bell rings. He says: What 
do you think of My obedience? When a mortifica* 
tlon or suffering comes to us, He says : What do you 
think of My suffering? My thorns. My nails? What 
do you think of My sweetness, when they spat upon 
My face? What do you think of My humility and 
My silence? Let us ask Him to help us to hear this 
momentous question, and our lives will be more solemn 
and meritorious." 

'^ There shall he joy before the Angels of God upon 
one sinner doing penance!^ Luke xv. JO, " When a 
soul does penance, our Lord takes her in His arms, and 
the Angels rejoice. Ah! it is in our power to give joy 
to the Angels, as well as sorrow; let us not neglect the 
only sure road to Heaven, which is also the only true 
road to peace on earth." 

^' Let us pray to understand the benefit of penance 
which we read about in the Gospel of Saint Luke. It is 
the only thing that our Lord said would give joy to the 
Blessed in Heaven. Ask that we may understand what 
it is to offend so good a God, whose sanctity makes the 
Angels tremble. We will endeavor to live in this 
spirit of penance, and if we keep this thought before 
our minds, all our actions will be flavored with this 
spirit, which gives joy to the Blessed In Heaven." 

" Let us ask for the gift spoken of In the Gospel; 
charity for the poor sinner. The great God; Mary so 
sweet, gentle and tender; the great Archangel; all 
thrilling with joy over one sinner doing penance; this 
penance may not be lasting, either, still all Heaven is 
rejoicing over this one sinner, because he is penitent. 
This is charity, and if we have not this charity we arc 
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Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

not fit for the Kingdom of Heaven. So we will pray 
for this spirit of charity." 

'' JTere twt ten made clean, and where are the nine? '* 
Luke xzii. ly. " We learn from this Gospel the dan- 
ger there is in being without a cross. The ten lepers 
were together, united in their sorrow; they helped one 
another, they prayed together while they bore the cross. 
But at their earnest solicitations the cross was removed 
from all ten; only one of these profited so much by the 
loving kindness of our Lord as to return to offer his 
thanks and show his gratitude; the remaining nine 
probably perished. So we will learn from this lesson 
not to be eager to rid ourselves of our little crosses, 
which are meant not only to keep us more closely united 
together, but to bind us more closely to our Lord, and 
to give us the life of the spirit, that true life which 
swallows up death." 

There is nothing so dangerous as happiness. " Let 
us ask the Blessed Virgin, whose birthday we celebrate 
to-day, that we may learn the lesson given us in the 
Gospel, that there is nothing so dangerous as happi- 
ness. There were ten lepers healed, and of these ten 
there was only one who knew how to use his happiness. 
The others were made happy by being healed; if they 
had remained in their affliction, no doubt they would 
have been saved; as it was, they were probably lost. 
So let us ask for that permitted joy, joy in prayer, joy 
in constancy and in devout meditation, however hard, 
dry and stern the work — for success and happiness 
draw us from God. This is the lesson we will ask our 
Blessed Mother to teach us." 

'' This Man receiveth sinners/' Luke xv. 2. " Let 
us ask the grace to learn to know even at the last hour 
the full truth of these words. ' This Man receiveth 
sinners.* This is His role. He came expressly for 
this. He receiveth sinners at all times, in every place, 
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Spiritual Counsels 

just where we are ; and the most sinful as well as those 
who are less so. Let us remember this, and not wait 
till some little wrong has grown up between us and 
Christ; we are so apt to wait for a Confession or Com- 
munion to ask Him to receive us. Oh no ! let us go at 
once, and He will receive us." 

On Forgiveness. " It is good to ask for the fulness 
of grace recommended to us in the Gospel, the grace 
of forgiveness; our Lord has recommended nothing so 
frequently and so solemnly as forgiveness. In great 
occasions where we are on our guard, this lesson is not 
so apt to be neglected as in the little daily occasions of 
slights, misunderstandings, thoughtlessness, which are 
always in our path; and it is here that we have to prac- 
tise that forgiveness which our Lord recommends, so 
that each new demand made upon our virtue finds us 
equal to God's desire, not only outwardly forgiving, 
but forgiving inwardly." 

^^ Can you drink the Chalice that I shall drink? '^ 
Matt. XX. 22. " Let us keep more and more personally 
fixed in our mind the great fact, that all that comes to 
us of pain or sorrow, from within or without, from 
others or from ourselves, is but a few drops of that 
chalice which Christ drained to the dregs for us; that 
He does us the honor to allow us to take the same chal- 
ice which He took before us. With this truth firmly 
fixed in our minds, all will be changed into joy, other- 
wise it would pass by uselessly, while Christ means us 
to share in His agony, that we may share in His glory." 

What It is to take the lowest place. " To take the 
lowest place, as the Gospel directs is not to think our- 
selves the worst of all, for often the acknowledgment 
of our nothingness puffs up the heart, and comes from 
a secret pride. To take the lowest place is the knowl- 
edge of our ignorance, which makes us incapable of 
forming any judgment of ourselves or others. What 
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Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

we judge ourselves to be docs not make us that, what 
others think us to be does not make us that; we can- 
not say this one is good, that one is better ; we can form 
no true judgment of any one, we are only what we are 
in God's sight. Saint Paul says : ' Judge not before the 
time; until the Lord come.' i Cor. iv. 5. This knowl- 
edge of our ignorance, and that we must wait the com- 
ing of Christ, when He will make known the value and 
merit of each one, is to take the lowest place." 

^' The poor haze the Gospel preached to them'^ 
Matt. xi. 5. " Let us ask the grace to learn what our 
Lord so often teaches us, and which He brings before 
us in this Gospel. He said to His disciples: ' Go tell 
John what you have seen; the lame walk, the dumb 
speak, the deaf hear, the lepers are cleansed and, above 
all, the poor have the Gospel preached to them.' This 
last point He wishes to impress upon them. Now, you 
are not preachers, you do not enter the pulpit, neverthe- 
less you are preachers by your example, not merely 
once a week, or once a day, but everv moment of the 
day." 

'WFe ought alzvays to pray." Luke xviii. i. "Let 
us help each other by prayer. In trying to help others 
we may be only injuring them, but in praying for them 
we are sure of helping them, and it makes us more like 
the Son of God, who is always praying for us. Let 
us pray for every one, but especially for those who can 
do so much good — the Priests; it is our duty to pray 
for them." 

''Many that are first, shall be last." Matt. xix. 
JO. " Let us take to heart the double word of our 
dear Lord in the Gospel: ' The first shall be last, and 
the last shall be first.' A word of warning to us ! We 
have been first by the number of graces bestowed upon 
us up to this present moment; and first in spiritual ad- 
vantages of every kind. How many of these have we 
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Spiritual Counsels 

squandered, and how meanly have we corresponded 
to a few ! Here were the Levltes and Priests, first in 
vocation, position, honor, privileges, illuminations and 
grace, but they abused all these means, which were 
meant to help others as well as themselves. And the 
poor Samaritan woman, who was despised, shunned, 
abused and rejected, receives the grace which those 
who were called to be nearest to the Lord by prayer 
and meditation rejected." 

^' He that htimhleth himself shall he exalted.'^ 
Luke xiv. II. " These words of the Gospel are fully 
exemplified in St. Francis of Assisi. Nowhere and to 
nothing is so much promised by our Divine Lord as 
to this abasement. We see this in St. Francis, for 
he abased himself, and not only was he exalted while he 
was on earth, so far as to be most like his Divine Mas- 
ter, but even at this moment he is exalted by Catholics 
and Protestants, and this exaltation will go on increas- 
ing to the end of the world; a prelude or forerunner 
of that greater exaltation which he has received from 
our Blessed Lord. So we will beg St. Francis to get 
light for us to see the hidden wisdom found in self- 
abasement." 

" Let us ask our Lady of Ransom to obtain for us 
the grace to put in practice the lesson given to us in 
these words: They who humble themselves shall be 
exalted. Ah ! that is what we have to learn, — to 
humble ourselves. No matter how we have spent the 
past years of our life, whatever good we may have 
done, or whatever bad we may have been guilty of, still, 
if we humble ourselves we shall be exalted. This les- 
son is for all, rich and poor alike; there is no exception, 
all must abase themselves. Then when God sees us in 
our nothingness. He will have pity on this nothingness, 
and in the end exalt it to His all-sufficiency." 

" We have Christ's own words, that ' he who 
humbles himself shall be exalted,' without condition or 
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Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

limitation, absolutely: he that humbleth himself shall 
be exalted, no matter what we are, or have been, no 
matter how guilty we may have been, we have only this 
one thing to do, humble and abase ourselves. We can 
always abase ourselves with God's help, and we can 
do nothing else. If we will only abase and yield our- 
selves up into God's hands, then our Lord will keep 
His promise, and we shall be exalted in due time." 

The Jredd'tng Garment. " We are referred in the 
Gospel to the Wedding Garment. You know that a 
garment is woven of many threads, sometimes so fine 
that they cannot be distinguished one from another; 
they are so close, and these little threads cross each 
other, making each time a little cross; if it were not 
so, there would be no garment. So it is with our wed- 
ding garment. Little pleasures which we should use 
with care, little disappointments, little pains and crosses 
borne sweetly and patiently, little annoyances received 
mildly, — all these are the little threads that go to 
make up our wedding garment, which we are to put 
on in the Kingdom of Heaven, towards which we 
are moving, moment by moment." 

'' Behold I am iv'ith you all days, even to the con- 
summation of the ziorld." Matt, .xxziii. 20. '* Let 
us ask for the grace to be with our Lord as He Is with 
us, for there is a great difterence. Christ is always 
with us, but are we always with Him? Christ is with 
us, He tells us He is with us all days, even to the con- 
summation of the world. He is with us on dark days 
and on bright days, sweet days and bitter days; days of 
jov, davs of sorrow, days of sickness, days of health; 
the days of life and the day of death — ' all days,' as 
He words it. What humiliations, and with what in- 
vincible patience He has suffered, still suiters, and will 
go on suffering to keep His promise: ' I am with you 
all days, even to the consummation of the world.* Let 
us be with Christ as He is with us, not at times and 
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Spiritual Counsels 

places, here and there, on some occasions, but all days, 
at all times and in every place. Then all things will 
be alike to us, for all seasons, moments, places and 
things will be full of Christ, equally full of Christ, with 
His sweetness. His light and His blessedness. '^ 

Advent. " The lesson of Advent which we should 
learn is love for each other, love, love, love; that we 
may be patient, enduring, self-sacrificing for one an- 
other, as being of one and the same family. God shows 
Himself to us such a Father He took for Himself such 
a Mother, one that could not be touched by any flaw, the 
sweetest, gentlest, loveliest of beings. And this Father 
gave this Mother to us, to be as much our Mother as 
she is His Mother. He feeds us all with His own flesh 
and blood, using the very words of St. Paul: 'bone 
of His bone.' With such a Father and such a Mother, 
let us strive to do all we can to pr^^ve our love for them 
by loving one another." 

" The grace for the Season of Advent is, I think, for 
greater watchfulness. It is so contrary to nature to 
do always the same thing incessantly, to be always on 
our guard. Without this watchfulness the other vir- 
tues would not thrive. It is the only command that our 
Lord explicitly says is for all : ' What I say to you I 
say to all: Watch.' Mark xiii. 37." 

" Let us try to understand better the watchword of 
the Church at this season of the year: 'The Lord is 
near,' inconceivably near. He is nearer than the 
Angels, nearer than Mary, although she is very near 
and never forsakes us. He is nearer than any part of 
ourselves. Let us remember this, it will help us on 
our way to eternity." 

Ash-JVednesday. " Ah ! Dust and ashes I Dust and 
ashes brought into the Sanctuary. At first a little 
crackling noise, a little brightness; then darkness, all 
is dust and ashes I The Church wants to bring to our 
minds that we must return to dust and ashes, and to 
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Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

make it more forcible she puts the ashes on the head 
of each person, to show, no matter how wise or how 
ignorant, how rich or how poor, how strong or how 
feeble, how good or how bad, weak or powerful, all 
must return to dust and ashes. So we will beg our 
Lord to help us to profit by this lesson, which is to teach 
us that all must perish except what we do for Eternity." 

The holy Season of Lent. " We cannot do better than 
to begin Lent by considering our Lord's agony in the 
Garden. Besides the torture of His blessed body, His 
soul was inundated with anguish and darkness; besides 
seeing clearly all the torments, scoffs and scorn pre- 
pared for Him, He saw He would fail in the very end 
for which He came, and that instead of making men 
better by His sufferings and death, they would be 
worse; He saw that most of them would be lost; but 
even in this He abandoned Himself to the will of His 
Father. Let us take to heart this lesson which He 
gives us; and let us abandon ourselves to Him, to the 
very core of our heart, so that we may come out of this 
Lent in the disposition to say truly: 'Father, not my 
will, but Thine be done.' " 

" Ponder and brood over the sufferings of our Lord, 
one by one, but remember that what we contemplate 
separately He endured all at once. He knew all that 
He was to suffer; the effects of past suffering remained 
and ever increased. When we consider what He suf- 
fered, we will realize a little better the love that our 
Lord has for each one of us." 

Lent — ^^ Now is the acceptable time/' 2 Cor. vi. 
2. " Let us ask our Lord to teach us what He wishes 
us to learn, especially now, in this time of Lent; that 
we may realize that we are here to be tempted, and 
that no one is exempt from temptation; that we are 
always, in all places and in all conditions, being tempted 
and proved; and at no time is the temptation more dan- 
gerous, subtle and cunning than when we think we are 
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Spiritual Counsels 

not tempted, for then we show that we have lost sight 
of our enemy. There Is nothing worth while but temp- 
tation, and we are losing time when we are not fight- 
ing, conquering and gaining the victory over ourselves. 
We are here for no other purpose, and when we cease 
to be tempted then we shall die. So, let us ask our 
Lord how to use each temptation, that we bear them 
sweetly and lovingly." 

Holy Week. ^' The Church takes us this week into 
the very heart of the Passion. We came step by step; 
after considering all the horrors of the Passion, it may 
be summed up in these few words : ' He became obe- 
dient,' and to-morrow we make a step further — ' obe- 
dient unto death.' The moments as they slowly passed 
were used to the full, and now our Blessed Lord spends 
the last few seconds of His life in remitting His Spirit 
into the hands of His Eternal Father. Let us consider 
what He acquired by this absolute obedience: He ac- 
quired a name above all names. Let us take our obe- 
dience with all its deficiencies to the foot of the Cross, 
and we shall see how far we are from the example here 
set before us. He bears the effects of His obedience 
upon His sacred Person." 

*' You will do your best to occupy yourself with the 
Passion, for the time that is left to us of this holy sea- 
son. There is In this mystery all that we need; it is 
an inexhaustible source of merit, of light and strength. 
We shall see how unlike His sufferings are to our little 
sufferings. In our suffering there is some relaxation; 
in His suffering there was none, no break in the entire 
course; it was always increasing, ever present until the 
last moment, when upon the Cross He cried out: ' It 
is consummated' — it is finished. If we consider this 
we shall learn to be patient." 

The Passion. " We should honor, praise and thank 
God for the holy and venerable Passion of Christ, and 
for the institution of the Blessed Sacrament the night 
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Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

before He suftered. It is not without a special mean- 
ing that it was just the very night before His Passion; 
it was because it was to be a prolongation and perpetu- 
ation of the Passion. Passion does not mean suitering 
of Christ, sutiering was the effect of the Passion — 
the Passion was the cause of the suffering, therefore it 
is said, Passion and Cross; Cross is mentioned after 
the Passion. The Passion of Christ was His self-sur- 
render, the yielding of Himself: the sufferings were the 
effect of the passiveness of Christ, of the absolute sur- 
render which He made of Himself, so that men and 
devils could do with Him whatever they chose. Thus 
is the Passion continued and perpetuated in the Blessed 
Sacrament, in the self-surrender which He makes of 
Himself. He even makes a greater surrender in the 
Blessed Sacrament, for He spoke in His sufferings and 
on the Cross, but in the Blessed Sacrament, never — 
He is silent. Let us ask our Lx)rd to help us to be 
mindful of this, that it may win our heart, and that we 
may be ever further from being of the number of those 
who outrage Him, and even from the neglect and 
thoughtlessness of those who call themselves His 
children." 

Feast of the Seven Dolors. '' Let us ask the 
Blessed Mrgin to form in us that great truth, the com- 
patibility in one person, of great suffering and great 
peace. Our Lord's suffering was continuous, yet He 
never lost His tranquillity^ of soul. His Holy Mother 
after Him had the greatest suffering, and the longest 
suffering, yet she preserved peace of soul. Let us 
therefore beg our Lord and His Blessed Mother for 
that wisdom which will enable us to combine these two 
great virtues in our soul." 

The Scourging. '' I have always thought it strange 
that the Church has no special feast for the Scourg- 
ing, unless she thinks it so palpable that it cannot be 
lost out of sight. That cruel, merciless, shameful 
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Spiritual Counsels 

Scourging! Each lash cutting deep, doing Its destruc- 
tive work. Imagine what that must have cost our 
Saviour's Sacred Heart. And this scourging was not 
only for all men In general, but each lash was for your 
sins, and for my sins; the Eternal Father did not lay 
this punishment on us, but upon His own Divine Son ! 
Let us try, my children, to enter Into the spirit of lov- 
ing, thankful gratitude to our dear Lord." 

'^ Our Lord Hanging on the Cross shows us what 
we cost Almighty God, and even after this, we have 
the shameful knowledge that if God did not force us 
by His Commandments to love Him, we would not, 
if left to ourselves, do It. This is the first Command- 
ment, all the rest, if kept, would be nothing without 
this great one — to love God with all our heart — this 
is all — nothing else." 

Vigil of Corpus Chris ti. '' The Feast we will cele- 
brate to-morrow Is not named for the Divinity of 
Christ, nor for the soul of Christ, for these are not of 
this earth; but our Lord chose to name It for His 
Body, for It Is of earth, to show us how closely He is 
united to us. He has abased and annihilated Himself 
In assuming this Body. So we in turn will strive to live 
continually In this annihilation of ourselves, that He 
may give life to all our actions." 

Corpus Christi. '' Let us ask for a truer and deeper 
knowledge of our Lord's presence In the Blessed Sacra- 
ment, as an end, to come to that closer, more real and 
better union within us, because it is more lasting. Let 
us ask that by means of this Most Blessed Sacrament 
He may take up His abode In us, heart within heart, 
spirit within spirit, person within person, until He has 
made of us another Himself, not for time only, but for 
eternity. If we keep this thought before us, we shall 
enjoy that union, which, commenced here below. Is to 
continue forever afterwards." 
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Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

Blessed Sacrament. " We will ask for light to get 
down to the littleness of the Crib, carried out and con- 
tinued in the Blessed Sacrament; our Lord not only 
accepted this utter helplessness, but embraced it will- 
ingly, contentedly and sweetly until the present day. 
So we will ask Him to help us to imitate Him in this 
mystery, and to receive each little occasion as it pre- 
sents itself to lead us to this helplessness; to know our 
littleness and to know that we are nothing without God; 
but all this must be in a spirit of sweetness and 
contentedness." 

" We should even pay adoration to the helplessness 
of Almighty God, which manifests itself more and 
more every day, not only in the Crib, but also in the 
Blessed Sacrament. Man is having his day, and God 
remains silent; man denies and blasphemes God; and 
persecutes and puts to death his neighbor, but the time 
is not far off when God will have His day, then will 
He assert His justice." 

Feast of the Sacred Heart. " Ask for grace to serve 
the Sacred Heart better within and without, through 
and through; to repair the outrages offered to this 
Sacred Heart, by ourselves in our neglect of His inspi- 
rations and His love; and still more by those of the 
world, who insult, despise and condemn Him, because 
He places Himself in their power, within their reach. 
All this He does for each one of us individually. If 
we keep this reparation before us, then all things will 
have a different aspect. We will do nothing new, but 
even the least things we will do better, with the view 
of making some return for so much love from the 
Sacred Heart — slighted love." 

" Let us honor this Divine Heart, which is the 
center of all in Heaven and on earth; the source from 
which emanates all good, and to which all good returns. 
Let us consider the excess of His love, manifested in 
the sufferings of His Passion, and let us beseech Him 
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Spiritual Counsels 

to give us, not wisdom or power, or great things, or 
high things, but simply the interior desire, will and 
endeavor to love His Divine Heart." 

" In the typical Holy of Holies it was permitted only 
to one man, and that the High Priest, to enter, and that 
but once a year, on a certain day, for a short time. And 
we can enter every day as often as we please, and stay 
as long as we choose, for the spear has made an open- 
ing in the Sacred Heart, and the veil of the Temple 
was rent, that we not only could, but that we must, we 
are bound to enter the Holy of Holies, which is the 
Sacred Heart; always open, ever waiting. There we 
can contemplate the dispositions which led our Lord 
to His Passion. The first and greatest of these dispo- 
sitions is that of obedience. His Incarnation was an act 
of obedience to His Heavenly Father, so also was the 
Redemption; and another disposition is that of His 
unimaginable, unfathomable love." 

Feast of the Ascension. " We must pray to get the 
grace of this season, which is one of detachment. 
Christ was detached from most things before His 
Ascension; from comforts, from consolations, from 
His reputation, from His friends, from His Apostles. 
But after His Ascension, He was detached from the 
best and most necessary things; from His Church and 
from His Blessed Mother. We must beg Him to give 
us this spirit of detachment. It is comparatively easy 
to be detached from exterior things, but we must go 
further, and also be detached from interior things, 
from lights in prayer, or what we thought were lights; 
from the Altar, from Jesus in the Tabernacle, from 
everything but Christ in the soul and His adorable 
will." 

" In the sacred Humanity of Jesus Christ we see 
ourselves elevated far above all the powers, to the 
highest pinnacle of glory. But in considering this con- 
soling thought, we arc apt to forget that as He was 
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Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

exalted above all, to the uttermost heights of glory, so 
He descended lower, lower than He had ever been on 
earth — to remain silent, hidden, despised, rejected, 
abused, dishonored in the Blessed Sacrament, where 
He deigns to become our food. We forget that in pro- 
portion as God exalts us, we should humble ourselves. 
So we will ask our Blessed Lord to teach us this lesson, 
which He so well practised and which He loves so 
much." 

Feast of Pentecost. " Pray to the Holy Spirit to 
understand the love of the Father for us; all that He 
Is to us, each one Individually, particularly; that He is 
more than a Father to us, who are so blind, poor, fool- 
ish, weak, senseless, miserable, cowardly and abject. It 
must be because of the Holy Spirit, who is in us, that 
He loves us, each of us particularly, as If there were 
no one else In the world. Then recognizing this, as 
we grow older, being more humble from the experi- 
ence which age gives us of our nothingness, we shall 
love our neighbor as being the object of this Father's 
love, as well as ourselves." 

" Let us pray that the Spirit, the only perfect Spirit, 
as we learn from the Psalms, may fill us with His 
charity, — love for God and man; that we may grow, 
grow more and more In this charity of Christ, that we 
may be permeated with it through and through. It Is 
the only thing that lasts, — beginning here below and 
lasting through eternity. And with this charity come 
all good things; peace, joy, contentment, illumination, 
submission, devotion and humility." 

" We may invoke the Holy Spirit under whatever 
title it may seem good; and perhaps we cannot do 
better than to Invoke Him under the form of unity, for 
He alone makes things one. He alone can produce 
unity, — unity with those around us, and unity within 
us, for nowhere do we find so much strife as In our- 
selves. The war which St. Paul speaks of we, too, 
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Spiritual Counsels 

know well, the flesh warring against the spirit, and the 
spirit warring against the flesh. The good that we 
would, we do not, and the evil that we would not, that 
we do." 

'' Strive to obtain the Oneness which the Holy Ghost 
came to bring on earth. That oneness of mind, oneness 
of sympathy, oneness with our neighbor which would 
make of this earth, where there Is so much pain, a kind 
of paradise. Oneness with self, not shifting and turn- 
ing from side to side, oneness of will, choosing nothing 
but the All-sufficient Eternal Good, God Himself." 

" Let us ask the Holy Spirit to come and take full 
possession of us, as He took possession of the Apostles, 
coming upon them in tongues of fire. St. James tells us 
that ' he who sins not with the tongue, the same Is a 
perfect man.' There is an interior tongue, as well as 
an exterior tongue; an interior silence as well as an ex- 
terior silence. This Interior tongue is dangerous and is 
almost unceasingly and persistently breaking this In- 
terior silence. St. James says, we have only to guard 
this interior tongue, and all good comes to us." 

" The Feast of Pentecost Is the apex, the culminating 
point, the completion of God's goodness and God's love. 
Our Lord was not content with coming among us, ac- 
companying us, speaking to us, protecting us, providing 
for us : He was not content with laboring for us, suffer- 
ing for us, dying for us, leaving us His word. His Sac- 
raments, His Church, but He gave us His very Body, 
and even this did not satisfy His love. But what more 
could He give, having given us His very Flesh and 
Precious Blood? Ah! — He could give us His Spirit, 
and He would give us His one, only, eternal Spirit, and 
He gives His Spirit to each one of us, whole and en- 
tire, as if It were nowhere else, and no one else pos- 
sessed It. This only. Indivisible Spirit of God Is in 
us to remain in us. We are the temples of the Holy 
Ghost, Who Is in us to tranquillize, to enrich, beautify 
and transform our spirit, in order to prepare us for 

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Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

Heaven. This should make us have confidence In God. 
Oh, how It should make us love Him ! how it should 
fill our hearts with gratitude and make us cleave to 
Him, how it should teach us self-sacrifice, and make 
us venerate the neighbor, since the only Spirit of Christ 
Is in the neighbor, and is to be there In time and in 
eternity." 

" We should be filled with thanksgiving for the 
graces given us during this season, and principally for 
the gift of the Holy Ghost, which Is not so much the 
completion of the Redemption as a continuance of it. 
We have received the indwelling of the Holy Ghost as 
a fund or source of grace, a forestallment, or a sample 
of what awaits us In the world to come; and as far as 
we mortify our senses, our inclinations and aversions, 
we are drawing Into ourselves that future home, we 
are nearing the reward that Is awaiting us; so we will 
try more earnestly to make good use of the time that 
Is left to us, that with the aid of this Holy Spirit we 
may learn to control ourselves, and hold on to each 
grace as it is given to us." 

" We must pray to learn how to wait for the coming 
of the Holy Spirit, to wait as the Apostles did. They 
waited without knowing how, or where, or when, or 
In what manner the Holy Spirit would come; but they 
waited in perfect submission, without doubt, in perfect 
contentment, without hurry. When we have learned 
to wait, we have learned ever\'thing, and if we have not 
learned this lesson, we have learned nothing. Let us 
learn to wait as Jesus and Mary waited, as the souls 
In Purgatory' wait; as Jesus waits In the Blessed Sacra- 
ment. Waiting for God! When a soul waits in this 
manner. Heaven and God are sure to come to her." 

The Nezv Year. " Next Sunday we shall begin a 
New Year, and close the old one, and we ought to beg 
pardon for the faults and imperfections of the passing 
year In order to be able to begin anew. Our Lord said: 

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Spiritual Counsels 

' Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My word 
shall never pass away.' All things will pass away; 
those around us, even the Church will pass away; all 
things will pass, and are passing away, and will soon 
be entirely gone, — but one thing will remain — Christ. 
Christ alone will always remain; so let us cleave to 
Christ, that we may live in Him, who never passeth 
away." 

New Yearns Day. " Well this new year is given to 
us as a reprieve, for how long we know not; it may be 
for a year, it may be for a month. The sentence : ' Dust 
thou art and unto dust thou shalt return ' is continually 
hanging over our heads; when it drops, our time of 
meriting is over. So let us make good use of the res- 
pite, for we know not when our call v*^ill come." 

Feast of the Epiphany. " God comes, not to show 
Himself as He is, but to show us what we are. He is 
little, and we are little. He is poor, and we are poor. 
He is in danger, and we are always in danger. He fled 
into Egypt from His enemies when He was a child. 
So we must do likewise; we must flee from every occa- 
sion which would lead us into temptation, where we are 
sure to find our enemies. Let us flee into the depths of 
our soul and remain hidden with our Lord, with no 
other desire than to be near Him. This is the grace 
of the Epiphany that we should beg our Lord to bestow 
upon us." 

" Only a few days ago we celebrated the Feast of 
the Epiphany, the manifestation of God to His people. 
And what was this manifestation? It was weakness. 
Weakness in His birth; weakness in His Crib; weak- 
ness in His flight into Egypt; weakness in the Blessed 
Sacrament; weakness in our souls, to show us that 
v/e are to adore this v/eakness. To show us that we are 
to adore God for Himself, and not because of His 
might or power. And we will learn to know our own 
weakness, in proportion as we shall have learned to 
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Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

know that we are nothing else but weakness. When 
we have experienced this through and through, more 
and more, then we shall be glad of our weakness." 

" This feast Is only the exterior manifestation, the 
type and figure of that great interior manifestation of 
God In the soul. This first manifestation was made by 
obedience and poverty, living a hidden and annihilated 
life, — In the cloister, as It were. So that In the degree 
that we strip ourselves of our desires, our own will and 
judgment, even our thoughts, God will manifest Him- 
self In our souls." 

Feast of St. Agnes. " Although a child, St. Agnes 
had great wisdom. She cleaved to Christ, conversed 
w^Ith Him, and lived In and for Christ until the time 
came to die for Christ, and even then she saw only 
Christ and was occupied with Him, and not with her 
pains. We hear so much about prayer, etc., and yet we 
fall so short of what we ought to be; so let us ask St. 
Agnes to help us to simplify things, to teach us the 
secret which she knew so well — to simplify everything 
into the one view of Christ, that like her we may see 
only Christ. The best things are good only in as far 
as they lead us to Christ. St. Paul says: 'I judged 
not myself to know anything among you, but Jesus 
Christ, and Him crucified.' i Cor. li. 2." 

Feast of the Espousals. " This day brings us to the 
Feast of the Espousals, and we should ask Mary to 
help us to Imitate her, as far as we can, in total aban- 
donment to our Lord. He wished her to be a Virgin, 
and at the same time she was to be the real and true 
Spouse of St. Joseph, who had full power over her. 
But she trusted God entirely, even when He seemed to 
contradict Himself. And God commanded Abraham 
to slay his son before he had issue. Yet Abraham 
trusted God, knowing that in the long run God could 
and would bring all things right, even when all around 
was dark and seemed to convene to overthrow His In- 

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Spiritual Counsels 

tended plans or designs. And we know how fully God 
realized all their hopes. Let us, too, trust to the utter- 
most of our power, when we shall be called upon In 
our ordinary life to prove our loyalty to our Blessed 
Lord." 

Feast of St. Paul. " Let us pray to St. Paul, who 
was solely intent upon one thing. When he was a Jew 
he was a Jew, and when he was a Christian he was a 
Christian. He loved God, and loved Him alone; he 
gave himself up entirely to this one thing, he loved his 
brethren so entirely that he was willing to be anathema 
that he might save them. This was the cause of his 
success; It was this that gave power to his words; it 
was this that made him so dear to God and to men. 
So we will ask St. Paul to obtain for us this singleness 
of purpose, that we may have God and God alone. 
Not self and God; but God alone." 

Feast of the Purification. " On Candlemas day we 
bring candles to have them blessed, that they may burn 
and be consumed in the service of God, and shed their 
light around us; like Jesus and Mary, who were con- 
sumed in the service of God, while they were the light 
of the world. So it must be with us. We must burn 
with the love of God and the desire for the salvation 
of souls, and be consumed In His service. And as our 
Lord says, you do not light a candle and put It under 
a bushel, or under a bed, neither can we hide our light 
If It burns within us. We shall give light to those 
around us; we shall not know this here, because it 
would not be good for us, but hereafter we shall see 
that our light has saved many a one whom we knew 
nothing about; or that it has attracted, led or given 
light to many who were groping around in darkness.' 



" Let us ask 


Mary to help 


us to imitate her, in her 


almost astound 


ing lowliness. 


To th 


e public 


she ap- 


peared and live 


id as a poor. 


Deasant 


woman, 


when in 


reality she was 


a royal Princess, and 


greater 


than all 


i 


277 









Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

honors, she was the Mother of God. To all she ap- 
peared as a sinner and a penitent; her immaculate 
purity did not oblige her to subject herself to the law 
of purification, nevertheless in her humility she wished 
to appear as a sinner. Let us endeavor more and more, 
not only to admire and reverence her humility, but to 
imitate it in our daily life." 

Mouth of St. Joseph. " Let us ask St. Joseph to 
obtain for us something of that constancy which he 
practised during his whole life; always doing the little 
things of which his life was made up, as faithfully, as 
promptly, as prayerfully the last time he performed 
them, as he did the first time. We are so inconstant, 
running here and there, leaving what is good for what 
Is worse; never satisfied, always wanting change, no 
sooner here than we wish to be somewhere else. So 
we will ask St. Joseph to obtain for us that constancy 
which was so conspicuous in his life." 

'^ He that is mighty hath done great things to me.^^ 
Luke i. ^g. " St. Joseph no doubt said the Mag- 
nificat, he might have said it at least, and no doubt he 
did say It: ' The Lord hath done great things for me.' 
What were these great things? Toil, labor, poverty 
and many crosses; and the people, then as now, 
could see no great thing In all this; and In the end 
to have to leave the two dearest objects In the world, 
Jesus and Mary; but all this contained the Will of 
God for St. Joseph. So he merged his will Into the 
Will of his Maker, and had no will of his own. These 
are indeed great things for us, when we can so lose our- 
selves In the Will of God that we have no will outside 
of His Will." 

Patronage of St. Joseph. " Let us pray to St. Jo- 
seph (the Feast of whose Patronage we celebrate to- 
day) that we may partake of his love for the hidden 
life. The world was then what it Is now, clamoring 
loudly about the great things It was to do, effecting won- 

278 



Spiritual Counsels 

ders, while St. Joseph remained hidden in his obscure 
life, drudging, drudging, drudging for a little pittance, 
scarcely sufficient for the necessaries of life, for those 
dependent upon him. He had no office to distract him; 
alone, obscure, hidden from others and from himself 
also. He lived this life because he was divinely illum- 
inated. So we will ask him to instruct us, that we too 
may live this hidden, obscure life, hidden from our- 
selves, but still more hidden from others, that we may 
be accounted as nothing, and treated as nothing, and 
that like St. Joseph we may learn to love and seek this 
hidden life." 

The Office of St. Joseph. " Let us ask grace to have 
the sight to see, and the wisdom to know and under- 
stand, how we are called to share in the office of St. 
Joseph, in guarding, caring and providing for the 
safety of Jesus; for He is in much more danger now 
than He was in the days of St. Joseph, for now all con- 
spire to blot Himi out of souls for time and eternity. 
Pride and sin of all kinds are striving to get the mas- 
tery, to put Jesus to death In souls, where He would 
have dwelt for all eternity." 

Feast of the Annunciation. " Let us ask the Blessed 
Virgin to obtain for us the gift of wisdom, to know 
when to fear and when not to fear. If the Angel had 
come to her ugly, threatening, accusing and blaming, 
she would have been satisfied and happy, because she 
v/ould have seen an opportunity to profit, but because 
the Angel came beautiful and praising her she was 
afraid. But we fear when there Is no reason to fear. 
We fear In mortification, humiliation, correction and 
labor, and we do not fear when everything succeeds 
and goes well with us, when we are praised by men, 
when we are honored and elevated, or Interiorly praise 
ourselves and feel safe." 

The Month of Alay. " To spend this month of 
May In the best possible manner, our first intention will 
279 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

be to glorify God by a stricter application to our duties, 
and a further giving up of ourselves to God. Our sec- 
ond intention will be to thank God for having given 
us such a good Mother. The third intention will re- 
gard ourselves, that Mary and Joseph may help us to 
love Jesus Christ more, not in word and sentiment, 
but in deed and truth as they loved Him through and 
through, to the utter destruction of all self-interest." 

" Let us ask the Blessed Virgin to obtain for us the 
blessedness spoken of in the Gospel; that blessedness 
which she enjoyed in a supereminent degree, and what 
this blessedness was we see from the words of our 
Lord: * Blessed are they who hear the word of God 
and keep it.' Listening to Christ in the depths of the 
soul, waiting for Him there, remaining with Him, 
listening to His inspirations which He gives us, and 
speaking to Christ there. This is blessedness, so we 
will ask Mary to help us to be faithful to it." 

The Blessed Virgin. " Honor her through whom the 
great, the divine, the incomprehensible love of God 
came into the world. And let us do what St. Paul ex- 
horts us to do, in last Sunday's Epistle; namely, to be 
like God, to grow in His love always; to love all per- 
sons, good and bad, uninteresting, troublesome, offen- 
sive; there is no distinction, all are included in God's 
love. It is in this way we can imitate God. We have 
only this one end to accomplish, to be like God. And 
she who attracted this wonderful love, will help us to 
love, love, love." 

Mary our Jeii-el! " If we were told that somewhere 
on earth a jewel of the greatest value was to be found, 
that it was to be seen but once, and that never again 
could anything be seen like it, how we would endeavor 
to possess it. Now, Mary is this Jewel; there never 
was one like her before, and there never will be one 
again, and as in Heaven all things are the opposite to 
what we find them here on earth, so Mary is whole and 
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Spiritual Counsels 

entire for each one of us, without lessening in the 
least what she has for others like us; it is her preroga- 
tive to bestow, without ever lessening or diminishing 
her gifts. We will ask Mary to help us to know her, 
to love her and to trust her with the care of ourselves, 
for she is wholly our own." 

Mary our Mother. " We should be very thankful 
for that most necessary of blessings, namely, a Mother 
whose heart is always ready to receive her children, no 
matter how weak, poor, stupid or repulsive; and how 
much more must we be grateful for our Mother, 
Mary, who cannot err or make a mistake, for she is 
all wise and has all power with God, who has given 
her to us to be as much our Mother as she is His. She 
has a Mother's interest in each one of her children, fol- 
lowing them in all their divers difficulties. And at what 
a cost, at what a time and place did He bestow her upon 
us! Remembering this, we will strive more earnestly 
to be less unworthy of her." 

St, Monica. " Ask St. Monica to obtain for us the 
spirit of prayer that we may pray as she did. She 
prayed so long, so long for the conversion of her hus- 
band and her son, not recognizing that her prayer was 
answered immediately, for prayer, if it is true prayer, 
brings us to God; prayer brings its answer with it — 
prayer is always answered at once; if we do not get 
what we ask for, we get God, and this is, or ought to 
be, the end of all prayer. No prayer was ever uttered 
that did not bring its answer with it, that is, bring us to 
God. At every prayer there is a new creation in the 
soul, at least an increase of the virtue we are praying 
for, so we will ask St. Monica to help us to pray." 

St. John the Baptist. '' After Jesus, Mary and 

Joseph, St. John the Baptist was the most detached 

from everything. Without rule, without comforts of 

any kind, without bed or table. If he had a rule, he 

281 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

would have made better use of it than we do. He had 
nothing but his union with God; this made up to him 
for everything else. He sought God within his own 
soul; this close union was never interrupted. Let us 
ask St. John to help us to live in this close union with 
God in our own soul." 

Feast of St. Peter. " As this is the Feast of St. 
Peter, we will ask him to help us to learn the lesson 
more and more, that God's prerogative is such that 
He not only forgives sin, but also the punishment due 
to sin, and such is His superabundant goodness that we 
enjoy a good, superior in degree, which would not 
have been ours if sin had not gone before. Where in 
our ignorance and weakness sin abounded, God caused 
grace to superabound. If there had been no sin, there 
would have been possibly no Incarnation, no Mary, 
no Joseph; so we will learn from all this to abandon 
ourselves more and more absolutely to this Divine 
Goodness, that He may bring us from the depths of 
our weakness. This lesson will teach us that far from 
discouragement and despondency we too may hope to 
be freed from our helplessness. St. Peter was greater 
by God's all-powerful grace, greater after God had for- 
given him the denial of Christ, than he was before his 
sin. Such is the power of penance ov^er the merciful 
Heart of God." 

Saints Peter and Paul. " After Mary and Joseph 
the three highest places in the Kingdom of Heaven are 
filled by three of the greatest sinners, who were also 
the greatest penitents, — Mary Magdalen, first of 
women after Mary, and St. Peter and St. Paul first of 
men after St. Joseph. Their repentance was so sincere, 
that it does not lessen but rather increases their glory. 
We also can attain high perfection by accepting from 
nioment to moment all the opportunities of suffering 
presented to us by our Lord, offering them to Him in 
satisfaction for our sins, and all during the day, within 
282 



Spiritual Counsels 

and without, we can practise penance at all times, which 
will increase our glory and our reward." 

St. Mary Magdalen. "We find in this Saint all 
that is noble, precious, beautiful and admirable; her 
fortitude, courage, patience, generosity, contempt of 
creatures and contempt of self — and the root of all, 
her supreme and ultimate confidence in God. This un- 
changing confidence in God was founded on the knowl- 
edge of her misery and nothingness, which made her de- 
spise self. She knew our Lord, He had reproved her 
for her crimes, but she turned to Him with her whole 
heart, and sought Him at a time and place that men 
might call unseemly. Oh, what a gift to know and 
loathe one's self, and at the same time to believe that 
God does not loathe us! Let us ask St. Magdalen to 
get for us that confidence which she possessed in such 
a supreme degree." 

Mary^s Assmnption into Heaven. " Her Assump- 
tion was the effect of her previous spiritual ascensions. 
We see it is in our power to attain this spiritual as- 
cension, for the body is not so much, it is the spirit that 
is of importance. Let us ask for the grace to Imitate 
Mary in one thing, which is first and foremost, that 
upon which all that follows depends — her true spirit- 
ual assumption — for the assumption of her body was 
only the exterior manifestation of what took place con- 
tinually during her life — namely, the spiritual as- 
sumption of her soul, by an Intimate union and conver- 
sation with her God in Heaven. We can share with 
her in this spiritual assumption, by keeping our will 
ever uplifted to the divine will of our Father and 
Creator." 

Nativity of Our Lady. " As to-morrow will be the 

birthday of the best of Mothers, we wish to make her 

some present, and there is nothing she will appreciate 

more than that we should bear her in our minds, In our 

283 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

hearts and in our actions, and more and more put into 
them the desire to help all her children who have 
strayed from her, who do not know her, or who do 
not think of her as Our Lord wishes them to think of 
her and feel for her. We will renew our resolution 
to do all we can by our earnestness and devotedness to 
bring back to Mary her stray children." 

Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. " Many per- 
sons in the world take the wrong cross which they bear 
without any merit, because they make it for themselves. 
But let us take the cross which our Lord gives us, which 
comes to us in great and little, high and low things, 
from ourselves, from within and from without, from 
those around us, from our duties, from our Rules and 
from our Superiors. This cross will be meritorious 
because it will be the true cross, because it is more like 
our Lord's cross. He never went in search of His 
cross, it was laid upon Him by His Heavenly Father. 
Let us ask of Him to give us the grace to bear His 
cross, the one He chooses for us; He knows the cross 
we need, and w^e will never make a mistake and get 
the wrong cross if we take the one which He gives to 
us from moment to moment, and which is not chosen 
by ourselves." 

The Stigmata of Saint Francis. " This supreme 
mark of God's love for Saint Francis did not come to 
him without great pain and suffering. And afterwards, 
when it had been impressed upon him, the pain and suf- 
fering did not cease. We might think that it was sweet 
and delightful, consoling; but no, it was always a bur- 
den, an inconvenience, a suffering, a humiliation. And 
so it is ever, when God would give us a proof of His 
greater love. He does so by making us more like Him- 
self; every new suffering, burden or humiliation is a 
proof of God's greater love for us. But, oh! the time 
to remember this is when the inconvenience, the bur- 
den, the suffering, the humiliation comes ! Let us ask 
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Spiritual Counsels 

St. Francis to help us to appreciate these proofs of the 
love of Jesus for us." 

'' The gift of the Stigmata which seems so great, 
must have been very painful at the moment, and ever 
after. We are apt to think of these favors as some- 
thing happy, but In reality they are ugly and Inconven- 
ient, anything but pleasing to nature. This gift must 
have caused St. Francis an Increased amount of suffer- 
ing from others, for they could not understand it. And 
this gift was as all gifts which God bestows upon us, 
for He would not give us anything less than what 
would make us like Himself. Let us bear this in mind 
when the moment of pain and trial comes upon us." 

Feast of St. Michael. " Well, next Sunday we 
will celebrate the feast of the great Archangel, St. 
Michael; that great spirit next to God and far above 
all the Angels, through whom He controls and directs 
the heavens and the earth, as He did for ages, before 
time commenced for us. And we see him bowing down 
in adoration, kneeling before the Man all bruised, torn 
and spit upon; adoring Him as his Master, his Lord 
and his God, and acknowledging Mary, poor, hidden 
and humble as his Queen. Let us learn from his ex- 
ample the great lesson of humility, that we like him 
may see God In all circumstances, however averse to 
our understanding, and that we may know that all 
things come to us from Him, who has the right to call 
Himself our Master, our Lord and our God. Let us 
beg the great St. Michael to plead for us, that we may 
imitate his humility." 

Month of the Rosary. " This is the Season of meek- 
ness and simplicity when we must try to obtain the spirit 
of prayer. We must make use of that simple, universal 
prayer, the Our Father and the Rosary. Our Lord has 
said: ' Unless you become as a little child, you cannot 
enter the Kingdom of Heaven.' We know how little 
children run to their Mother, being sure of her heart 
285 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

and open arms to recel\c them, however ragged and 
dirty they may be. So Hke little children, we will run 
to our Lord for everything, playing around Him as it 
were by our dependence upon Him, always looking 
towards Him, and expecting all from Him." 

" Let us beg our Blessed Mother to get us the light 
to see, and the grace to practise the sweet devotion 
of the Rosary, so simple, so easy and so powerful. 
And as we grow older we shall see that to pray for 
nothing set or expressed for ourselves, or for others, 
but to remain sweetly submissive to God's providence is 
the best of all prayers — keeping ourselves interiorly 
united to God, without thinking or doing anything, but 
satisfied in being near Him." 

'^ He hath given His Angels charge over thee: to 
keep thee in all thy ways." Ps. xc. ii. "Let us 
thank God for giving us the Angels for our protectors, 
and thank the Angels for the care they take of us. Let 
us thank God and the Angels for solving for us the 
problem of problems, namely, how to rest In God and 
at the same time serve creatures. The Angels render 
services to us continually; they save us from stumbling 
on the stones in our way, they serve us as no slave 
serves his master, and yet their eternal repose in God 
is uninterrupted. We do just the contrary. If we con- 
template God, It is by withdrawing from the neighbor; 
If we are occupied In the service of the neighbor, we 
generally forget God. If we are occupied with tem- 
poral things, we forget the Invisible and eternal things. 
So we will ask our Guardian Angel to help us as time 
goes on, to unite more and m.ore our duty to God, and 
to the neighbor." 

Guardian Angel. " Our Guardian Angel is the most 
devoted of friends, so peculiarly our own, and charged 
in a special manner with the care of our souls, never 
leaving us for a moment night or day, watching over us 
more tenderly than a Mother watches over her sick 
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Spiritual Counsels 

child. We have Jesus and Mary in common, but our 
Guardian Angel belongs to us in such a particular way 
that if we were alienated from God, still this loving 
protector would never leave us. Therefore we will 
show him our gratitude by a greater trustfulness, and 
fidelity to his inspirations." 

" Our Angel is our oldest and best friend — an older 
friend even than Mary, for she became our friend at 
our baptism, while our Angel has been our friend from 
our entrance into the world. Moreover, Mary is the 
friend of all, whereas our Guardian Angel is peculiarly 
our own, our special friend, who is constantly with us, 
whether we are good or wicked, without ever abandon- 
ing us. Our Angel is our best friend; he accompanies 
us everywhere and cares for us as no friend on earth 
could do; for our earthly friends sometimes leave us, 
or we leave them. And at the hour of our death, that 
hour when we shall so sorely need a friend, our Angel 
Is the only friend that can go with us; even if others 
could go with us, they could not help us ; at most they 
can only follow us with their prayers, but our Angel 
follows us in reality; he is there to sustain and guide 
us in that unknown journey, where we shall most of all 
need the assistance of our oldest, best and most lasting 
friend. We should be thankful to God for giving us 
such a friend, and be thankful to our Guardian Angel 
for air his care ; we must show our gratitude in the way 
that will be most agreeable to him, which is to imitate 
him, especially in his lowliness and charity." 

St. Francis of Assist. " We see in St. Francis of 
Assisi such heights of virtue that we are startled at the 
sight of them; we see no such prodigies nowadays. 
The reason is, because we do not love poverty; our 
starting point is not correct. St. Francis found in pov- 
erty a treasure we little dream of, but he knew, he 
loved, he practised it, he lived in it — it was everything 
to him. We see those who have taken the Vow of pov- 
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Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

erty, but who are in want of nothing, for all their wants 
are supplied by those who have care of them. But to 
be in actual want is seldom seen. St. Francis was 
in actual want, and it was this actual want of the neces- 
saries of life which constituted his riches; he called 
poverty his dear mistress. He learned this love of pov- 
erty from his Divine Master, Who said: 'Blessed 
are the poor In spirit.' Our Lord did not say: Blessed 
are the poor, oh, no! He was too wise for that, but 
He said: ' Blessed are the poor In spirit,' blessed, who 
love poverty, who desire It. We will ask St. Francis 
to teach us to love poverty as he did." 

St. Bruno. " St. Bruno knew so well how to keep 
silence. He knew better than any other the value of 
silence, and practised so well that silence within. If 
our silence within does not produce the exterior silence 
we are losing time. Let us beg St. Bruno to obtain for 
us the virtue and spirit of Interior silence; that silence 
which does not choose, does not complain, does not 
wish to see, or have other than God wishes for us; 
so that we look to Him, leaving all else, and letting 
Him decide for us, for He can only order or permit 
that which will be for our greatest good." 

St. Teresa. " The gift to ask of St. Teresa Is the 
spirit of prayer. To pray well does not mean to say a 
certain form of words, to be In a kneeling position, to 
have a book in hand, and to be In the choir. Prayer 
is an elevation of the heart and the mind to God, and 
this can be done at all times and In all places. We pray 
well If we do all our actions for God, so we will ask St. 
Teresa to help us to get the spirit of prayer." 

St. Raphael. " The Church brings before us to- 
day the name of Raphael, which signifies healing. 
There Is no doubt that we have wounds, and that It 
is God alone who can heal those wounds in such a way 
that from the scars themselves He may reap glory; 
healing them like the wounds of our Blessed Lord, 
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Spiritual Counsels 

which He holds even to this moment, and which will 
shine for all Eternity, so that they are His glory." 

Feast of All Saints. '' Let us honor all the Saints, 
and especially that numberless army of unknown 
Saints, of whom nothing Is known. The canonized 
Saints, who are few compared with the former, have 
been capable of practising heroic virtue, virtue which 
is beyond our attainment. But we will consider the 
vast army of unknown Saints, who have no history, 
who lived the same common life that we do, who did 
common things uncommonly well, who tolled, waited, 
suffered; who believed, hoped, loved and repented. 
These we can imitate." 

Hidden Saints, " We must honor the great army 
of unknown or hidden Saints, unknown to history, be- 
cause there was nothing in their lives worthy of note 
or interest. They left the field, the workshop, and the 
kitchen, silently. They had done their little works, one 
by one, as Providence presented them, with submission, 
cheerfulness and constancy. So It Is to this army we 
will join ourselves, until It may please the Lord to take 
us to Himself." 

All Souls. " Let us pray to be able to understand the 
meaning of the Church in Immediately joining ^ All 
Souls ' with the celebration of the Saints, which shows 
that they are united with them, and that they are now 
free from all the anxieties, pains, troubles, temptations 
and sins, and from the fear of ever being separated 
from God. They have chosen God, and now It Is a 
settled thing for all eternity. They are God's, and 
nothing which gives us pain or distress will ever more 
touch them. We will learn from this what a good thing 
It is to die, and what death gives us; what nothing 
else can — namely, the surety of God, that Is, never 
more to fall from Him. We too will learn not to fear 
death, but be glad that we are dying daily, until the 
total death comes to set us free." 
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Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

" It is therefore a holy and a iLholcsome thought 
to pray for the dead." 2 Mac. xii. ^6. " Let us pray 
for all the poor souls, especially for those who have 
no one to pray for them; for those who have dropped 
out of this world suddenly, perhaps died in some dis- 
tant forest, or a shipwreck at sea; or many who unfor- 
tunately are forgotten by their friends and the world." 

'' There is no duty which demands greater attention 
than praying for the Dead. There are many reasons 
which prove this. The infinite wisdom of God orders 
it, the holy Church daily begs it and rewards it; charity 
demands it, the poor souls need it, since they cannot 
help themselves; our own necessity requires it, and in 
proportion as we pray for them, w^ill they remember 
us, and by thinking of them frequently, we will not be 
so likely to forget that one day we shall be numbered 
among them, and we wnll have taken a fixed habit to 
keep them ever in our hearts and in our minds.'' 

Feast of St. Gertrude. " This is the Feast of St. 
Gertrude, who so well understood prayer, that prayer 
which unites us to God in all things and in all places, 
not asking now and then, at stated times for some- 
thing or some favor, but constant and uninterrupted 
union with God. But to possess such a favor, a price 
must be paid for it. St. Gertrude won it by her hu- 
mility, by the annihilation and whole destruction of her- 
self. So we will ask her to help us to get It too, that 
by self-abasement and effacement of self we may be 
able to pray always." 

" St. Gertrude kept her mind on Christ and heavenly 
things, and became such a great Saint. In proportion 
as we keep our mind on Christ, we approach sanctlts'; 
to become a saint the way Is simple but not easy — we 
must keep our mind on Christ; In as far as we have our 
minds on earth we are earthly." 

Feast of the Presentation. " Let us ask our good 
Mother to help us to make the presentation of our- 
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Spiritual Counsels 

selves as she made her Presentation, and that the pres- 
entation of ourselves may be as acceptable as the pres- 
entation of Mary was acceptable; then we shall get 
God for our presentation. To give self is to get God, 
and to keep self is to lose God. We can never know 
whether we have made this presentation while God's 
will is suited to our will; but it is when we feel our will 
opposed to His Will, and we follow His will amid 
crosses and contradictions, repugnances, contempt and 
abandonment, then we shall know we have made this 
presentation, and for this we will beg our good Mother 
to help us." 

" Our Lady did not know what was to be her honor 
when she gave herself to God day by day, hour by 
hour, but she was rewarded above all creatures for her 
abandonment. And so surely shall we be rewarded if 
we merge ourselves into the Divine Will though we 
may not see it now, and may be it would not be well 
for us to know what God will give us in return; but 
we may be sure that entire abandonment, no matter 
how long things may appear to the contrary, will bring 
us God, as certainly as the confiding abandonment 
of Mary brought God to her." 

St. Cecilia. " The Church immediately after the 
Presentation of our Lady in the Temple shows us St. 
Cecilia, the patroness of music, not alone that earthly 
and lower music, but the higher and heavenly music 
caused by the presentation of herself to God; the in- 
fusion of that harmony which resounds in the celestial 
spheres. The presentation of ourselves to God and to 
God's Will is the true harmony, which vibrates in the 
heavenly spheres. So we will ask St. Cecilia to help 
us to understand the harmony of this presentation of 
ourselves to God, which should always be going on 
without ceasing." 

Feast of St. Andrew. '' St. Andrew comes at this 
moment to announce the approach of Advent ; he opens 
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Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

the door; we see him standing there as a sentinel. He 
was the first to discover the Lord, and he brought his 
brother, St. Peter, to the Master. From St. Andrew 
above all others we learn watchfulness, the most neces- 
sary of all the virtues; even more necessary than char- 
ity, for it is only now and then that we are called upon 
to exercise charity, but watchfulness we need at all 
times, that we may be on the alert to prevent the least 
improper thought from entering the temple of God — 
the interior temple of our soul. We need this watch- 
fulness, this vigilance, that we may see in advance even 
the shadow of evil before it reaches us, and we need 
our Lord to help us, for we very soon grow weary of 
this continual watchfulness, which is as necessary as it 
is difficult. Let us then pray to St. Andrew to help us." 
" At the baptism of our Lord, St. Andrew heard 
the one word, and he took it. The others heard it too, 
but St. Andrew not only took the word, he kept it most 
faithfully; he lived by it, he acted by the faith he had 
in this word, until he became invincible, and he grew 
day by day, more and more in his Master's love. So 
will it be with us if we are faithful in sorrow, in joy, 
in darkness and in light, doing what we know we 
ought to do, whether we like it or not, having our gaze 
fixed always and ever on Him whom we follow. Faith 
will grow in us and transform us, rendering us in some 
measure invincible like St. Andrew." 

Gift of Divine Love and Love of the Cross. " Let 
us ask St. Andrew to help us to love the cross, not to 
bear it, for bear it we must; not to bear it cheerfully, 
but to love it as he did. He loved it, because it united 
him to his Master, and we cannot love the cross, but 
in so far as we love Jesus Christ crucified. We must 
first get that something, that gift which will enable us 
to love it, and this will be given to us, when we ask for 
it humbly, daily and unremittingly. The gift of love 
— of love for this Divine Master! Oh, what an in- 
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Spiritual Counsels 

comprehensible thing it is, that we should be permitted 
to love Him, since He is what He is, and we are so far 
beneath anything which could call forth love! Still 
the Divine Master seeks our love; so we will beg this 
gift day by day, humbly. We may have what seems to 
us like love, for frauds are in many forms, but the true, 
genuine love for Jesus Christ crucified can only come 
from Jesus Himself." 

The Feast of the Immaculate Conception. " There 
is only one God; there never was one like Him through- 
out all centuries; there never will be one like Him. 
He contains within Himself an infinite treasure of 
riches; He Is all wisdom, all powerful, all merciful. 
So, In like manner, we may say there is only one Mary, 
there never was one like her; there never will be one 
like her. By the goodness of God she is the dispenser 
of His riches, His wisdom, His power. His happiness. 
There Is then only one God, who Is our Father, and 
only one Mary, who is our Mother. Having then such 
a Father and such a Mother, let us strive to be the 
best of children." 

Feast of the Expectation. " Our good Mother ex- 
pected In truth, so she was peaceful and tranquil. 
We expect all sorts of foolish things, which come and 
go, and all that passes away Is not worth possessing; 
but while we are taken up with nothing, we neglect to 
make use of our great all. We have Mary, the Saints, 
grace and the Sacraments, and God Himself for our 
portion, so we will ask our good Mother Mary to help 
us to regulate our expectations." 

Christmas. '' Well, we see In this Feast of Christ- 
mas our Lord acting In opposition to the world. The 
world depends upon wealth, reputation, position to 
make one great, but we have It In our power to make 
all things great by our use of them. We see our Lord 
made all things great by His touch; poverty, labor, suf- 
fering, and in the end, death. So we can follow His 

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Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

example, and make the most insignificant, repulsive, 
wearisome things great, by the proper use of them. 
Let us pray for the grace to use this gift of God as He 
intended." 

" Beg for the grace to understand more and more 
the unselfishness of God in the great mystery of the 
Nativity. This unselfishness is beyond and above our 
imitation, but we can adore it. God in giving us Him- 
self, gave us all for nothing. He took to Himself no 
reward, no recompense; He gave us all; He passed for 
less than nothing, and took upon Himself our weakness 
and misery, our pains and labors; He went so far as 
to take upon Himself the loathsomeness of our sins, 
and He did not stop here, but even took our death 
itself, as we learn from to-day's Epistle. God sent His 
only Son to redeem us, that we might receive the adop- 
tion of sons, whereby we are not only heirs of the 
things of God — but of God Himself." 

Feast of St. Stephen. " St. Stephen was not only 
the first martyr, but also the only one of whom our 
Lord has written. He did not tell us of the death of 
Mary, or of the Apostles, but He does tell us of the 
death of St. Stephen, and the Church places his feast 
near the birth of our Saviour. St. Stephen accom- 
plished the two ends for which our Lord became incar- 
nate — that God might be loved, and after Him the 
neighbor. In his youth St. Stephen gave himself to 
God, to whom he offered his life and his blood. While 
he was in the torture of his cruel martyrdom, with all 
his strength he staggered to his knees to pray for his 
executioners, saying: 'Lord, lay not this sin to their 
charge.' So we can find no one better to pray to, to 
obtain the grace of this season, — love for God, and 
love for our neighbor, — than St. Stephen, to whom 
the Church gives such a place of honor." 

St. John the Evangelist. *' We will ask St. John 
to pray for us, he who leaned upon the Heart of Jesus 
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Spiritual Counsels 

outwardly, but much more inwardly. Though natu- 
rally of a quick, impulsive, vindictive character, as the 
Scripture tells us, he became the disciple whom Jesus 
loved. Though not always with Him, nothing could 
touch or interrupt the interior union of his heart with 
the Divine Heart of Jesus. This gained for him all the 
superabundant graces which made him so God-like in 
forbearance and love. So will it be with us, if we strive 
for this interior union, for nothing can touch it. If 
anything is painful or difficult, then it will only bring 
us to a still closer union. Are we sinful? Well, the 
Heart of Jesus has been opened for us to enter in. So 
it matters not how or where we are situated, this union 
with the Heart of our good Master can never be dis- 
turbed or touched." 

" After Mary, the Lord's Mother, St. John was pri- 
vately and personally, first and foremost, nearest our 
Lord. He was called earlier in life and lived later 
than the others, hence he was separated for a longer 
time from the presence of our Lord in glory and also 
from our Lord's Mother, near whom he found so much 
consolation. He was a wreck physically, and was 
obliged to be carried to and fro — and a wreck men- 
tally, only able to utter the same few words : ' Little 
children, love one another.' This may seem strange to 
us who do not understand the designs of God. Things 
pleasing to the senses are not good for the soul; but 
sufferings and things repugnant to the senses are good 
for the soul, and gain for us a happy eternity." 



295 



LITTLE RETREATS 

T3UT It was more especially during the private re- 
-'^ treats of the community that this benevolent 
Father spent himself, giving his undivided attention 
and careful direction to the particular needs of all those 
who confided In him. Out of the abundance of his wise 
experience he counseled and consoled, and while fol- 
lowing them closely In the pursuit of their attraction, 
he never went In advance of grace, but helped and en- 
couraged them to cooperate with it. It was well known 
that whatever he advised he had already put in prac- 
tice himself and In becoming all things to all, he gained 
all by his sweetness and discretion. He said: " Put 
more confidence In God, do not serve Him as though 
you thought all the time He wished to entrap you, but 
deal with Him confidently, calmly waiting His good 
pleasure and doing what He wills, and thus not serving 
Him with a sort of constraint. Do not multiply ex- 
terior practices, nor measure yourself by others, not 
wishing to be like them, nor to do what they do, but 
calmly, patiently resigning yourself to do God's holy 
Will." 

" What our Lord wants of you Is that complete In- 
terior surrendering of yourself, for the accomplishing 
of His Will in your soul. What we desire and frame 
to ourselves as the best, would be only for our ruin. 
God's goodness is Infinite, and He will never permit us 
to lose ourselves or offend Him without warning or 
permitting us to see and know It. What He does is 
always for the best, therefore we have only to trust 
Him." 

" Leave your sins, leave all that. Spend the rest 
of your time of retreat looking at our Lord. Give 
296 



Spiritual Counsels 

yourself to Him just as you are, with all your rniserles, 
without desiring to be more holy — don't even try 
to be nothing. We are so blind, weak and ignorant, 
we know not what is best for us, and the very things 
we desire might be most prejudicial ; but He does know 
and will give us what we ought to have, if we only go 
straight to Him, and leave ourselves in His hands, in 
His guidance. Say to Him : Here I am. Lord, and keep 
close to Him. . . . Cleave to Christ as the only object 
of your love, be attentive only to consider Him — this 
is best for you, and the only thing to do, and the only 
thing worth doing." 

" Thank God for that which you call evil, and which 
Is a good, and may become a very great good by being 
used aright. While many persons have not their atten- 
tion fixed on anything, you may turn your attention to 
good by fastening it on God; on His goodness. His 
patience and His mercy, and so become tranquil and 
very still. The people in the Gospel of last Sunday 
were noisy and jostled against our Lord, and although 
they touched Him they did not feel Him, but the 
woman troubled with an issue of blood crept up silently 
behind Him saying: ' If I but touch the hem of His 
garment, etc' " 

" True Wisdom consists in accepting from the Hand 
of God, as happening by His divine Providence, and 
through the love Lie bears us, our present pains of any 
kind, whether of mind, soul or body, particularly sick- 
nesses, aridities, drynesses and desolations; thanking 
God for them, and not struggling against them as many 
do, nor trying by vain and useless efforts to make one- 
self better, or imagining oneself to be in a very bad 
state of soul in having them; but only resting quietly, 
saying nothing, doing nothing, but trusting in God, and 
thanking Him, and waiting His divine good pleasure 
to be freed from them. This Is true Wisdom and the 
true life of Faith." 

" See only God, desire only His Will. Pray when 
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Rt. Rev, A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

you get a chance, and when you can pray. If you can- 
not pray, do not be disturbed; be content with the Will 
of God in this, as in all other things. I know of no 
greater simplicity than to have our will one with God's 
Will, and not to think of the past, or of the future, but 
accept from His hand what He sends at this moment. 
To know only God is the greatest simplicity we are 
capable of." 

" Oh, you and I, and none of us are grateful enough 
for what we have received from God! Let us try to 
be more thankful, the man who has a million does 
not appreciate it, because he is eager and anxious to 
make another million, and is too much taken up with 
that to think of or care for what he has. Let us ask 
the Blessed Virgin, the Mother of our Lord, to obtain 
for us the grace to be tranquil, to be very still. In 
our prayer we must listen to our Lord, for by that 
means He will give us good desires of serving Him." 

" Can you not simply look at our Lord in prayer and 
not disturb or constrain yourself to make acts, nor to 
speak at all, simply giving yourself to Him just as you 
are, and being satisfied to look at Him without speak- 
ing; calmly and quietly brushing away the thoughts and 
distractions, as you would a number of flies or gnats 
lighting on your face." 

" Spend the remainder of your time in looking at 
Christ, for He will flash more light into your soul for 
discovering your faults than all your examination and 
looking at self could ever produce." 

" Give to God, my child, just one beat of your heart 
— yes, just one beat, from moment to moment." 

" The more we are attentive to the presence of God 
in our soul, the more we will become invulnerable to 
the attacks of the enemy." 

" A traveller, in ascending a high mountain and look- 
ing down from its heights, upon the different ramifica- 
tions by which he came, would not stop at a stone wall 
to examine its details, but he would be employed in 
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Spiritual Counsels 

taking measures to improve his future course, he would 
look to taking new spirit. So it seems to me one would 
do in a Retreat : take a new spirit from its source — to 
push." 

" Do not think of your past sins; think of the vast- 
ness of Eternity, the blessedness of God, the sweetness 
of Christ, the glory of Mary and the Angels. God 
knows where there is a good will and that satisfies Him. 
If you would think of the past for a thousand years, 
in the end you would have to leave it to the mercy of 
God, so you might as well do it in the beginning, and 
save your time and trouble." 

" Instead of thinking of your sins during Retreat, 
see how you can study our Lord more clearly, how you 
can be fastened to Him, and have a deeper intercourse 
and communion with Him. Yes, see how to have our 
Lord's presence more real to you, His personal pres- 
ence, the reality of His personal presence, and how 
you can be fastened to Him firmly and constantly." 

At another time, " Well, my child, be very grateful 
to God for the gift of self-knowledge. It is one of the 
greatest favors that God can bestow upon us, and there 
is no progress without it. Ah! how many lights are 
given to us, but we do not make good use of them. If 
we find things difficult, our prayer unsatisfactory, let us 
thank God for showing us how poor and miserable we 
are. Be faithful to make your preparation for prayer, 
and when your mind strays away, bring it back gently, 
and then, when all is done that depends on you let 
God do the rest, and remain in peace in His presence." 



299 



FRAGMENTS 

" Gather up the fragments that remain, lest they he lost." 
John vi. 12. 

THERE are many Saints unknown to the world. 
We know no more of their lives than we know 
of the leaves of the trees which have fallen a thousand 
years ago." 

Speaking of the Wisdom of our Blessed Lady, he 
said: "All other wisdom is as far from true wisdom 
as our hills are from the eternal hills." 

" When God forgives sin, not only does He forgive, 
but He gives that soul something that It never had 
before." 

" The same exercises day after day should be made 
new by doing them with new love." 

" Even a glance at the Crucifix w^ill not go unre- 
warded." 

" No prayer Is ever lost; we may sometimes think it 
is when we see our misery, but God Who gives the dis- 
positions for prayer also rewards the efforts we make." 

" See no one, but only Jesus; yes, see only Jesus in 
your own soul; see Him In others; see only Jesus in 
all that happens, good or bad; always, in all things 
see Jesus alone." 

" There Is nothing too great for His power, nothing 
too little for Ells goodness." 

" All that disturbs our peace, whether It comes from 
within or without, great or small, spiritual or temporal, 
good or bad. Is wrong, useless, and we must use the 
first possible means to regain tranquillity." 

'* Rejoice that others are wiser, better, happier and 
holler than we are, or ever can be." 

" ' It Is expedient for you that I go.' He goes In 
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Spiritual Counsels 

this, and comes In that. He goes in life, to come In 
death in a better and more lasting way." 

" Every good thing is purchased at a great cost." 

" It would be a great temptation in a life like this 
to think you are doing nothing, for you are doing the 
work that God requires of you; this work Is death to 
self." 

" No prayer is unanswered; even If we do not get 
what we ask, God always gives us something better. 
He sees that what we ask would not be good for us, 
and He gives us what Is best." 

" The advantage In praying for the Departed Is that 
It keeps our last end before us, and the Holy Scripture 
says : * Remember thy last end, and thou shalt never 
sin; " 

" Our Lord took with Him all the hearts of His chil- 
dren when He ascended into Heaven, so that we are 
enthroned in that Sacred Heart, which gives not one 
single throb in which we do not share." 

" If a person were paralyzed, perfectly helpless, 
blind, deaf and dumb, and still resigned to the Will of 
God, Intimately united to Him, such a person would do 
more for the Church than all the activity of those who 
labor for the Church, but who are less united to God." 

" Sweetly, quietly, lovingly look at God in the pres- 
ent moment, without fear or apprehension for the pres- 
ent, and still less for the future." 

*' The end of the Incarnation and of all the mys- 
teries, even our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament — is 
Christ dwelling In us, elevating and identifying our life 
with His own — all we have to do Is to remove the 
obstacles to enable us to say In very truth with St. Paul : 
* It is not I who live. It Is Jesus who lives in me.' " 

" If we try to make use of all the opportunities for 
practising virtue, as, for instance, an occasion for prac- 
tising patience. If we are patient, then God comes and 
effects a change In our soul, although we may not be 
conscious of It." 

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Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

" If we live in union with God we know our failings 
at the very moment we commit them, and the examina- 
tion is rather to gather what we already know than to 
search for others. If we live in God, for God and with 
God, He will show us our defects." 

" Continually ask our Lord to give you His love, but 
do not look to see if you love Him more, for you will 
get yourself in trouble if you do. Oh, what you ask 
for, when you ask for His love ! The Angels and the 
Saints, even the Blessed Virgin could not receive any- 
thing greater, and our Lord Himself could give noth- 
ing greater than His love, so ask for it humbly." 

" All are beggars on this earth except those who 
have Christ in their souls, from Whom they draw reve- 
nues sufficient for every need." 

"David said: 'It is better that I should fall into 
the hands of the Lord (for His mercies are many) 
than into the hands of men.' 2 Kings xxiv. 14. Yes, 
it is better to be in the hands of God's justice than in 
those of the tenderest mercy of creatures." 

" Beg, dear children, beg for the grace of persever- 
ance. Our failures through the infinite mercy of God 
tend more to our sanctification than our success would 
have done. The latter might inflate or puff us up, 
while the former show us our weakness, and that nature 
is full of folly and foolishness." 

" When we feel our misery, and see our folly, and 
recognize our perversity, then it is we have a greater 
claim and a stronger call to absolute confidence in our 
Lord; for He has said: ' I am not come to call the 
just, but sinners.' " 

" I have been taught from my youth that it is only 
Christian to fast." 

" One act of submission of your will, will place you 
on a plane which you never knew before, and from 
which you will never depart." 

" I know of but one thing whereby we may escape 
changes, and that is death." 
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Spiritual Counsels 

" No work is small if done for God — it is the little 
things that count." 

'^ When my Master tells me plainly what to do, I 
am not afraid to do it." 

" I have come to that point when I am certain as to 
few things, save what the Church propounds and 
guarantees." 



303 



II 

EXHORTATIONS 



EXHORTATIONS 

THE following devout and useful extracts taken 
from the Exhortations given by this venerated 
Father in the Canonical Visits he made to the Com- 
munity touch on the obligations of the Religious life 
and the strict observance of the Rule. 

He threw himself into this duty as the constituted 
Superior of the House, and in virtue of his office as 
Bishop of the diocese, with that earnest piety which 
marked all the more serious actions of his life, faith- 
fully fulfilling this sacred charge for about twenty 
years. 

His inspired words on these occasions served to re- 
new his hearers in the more faithful and exact observ- 
ance of their religious obligations, but his example 
urged them more powerfully to attain at any cost that 
sanctity which appeared in his whole demeanor. 

These extracts have been grouped according to the 
subjects rather than with regard to the number of years 
they embrace, and although not taken verbatim, must 
undoubtedly convey the impression produced on his 
hearers. 

^' My dear children. I think it well to say a few 
words of the Canonical Visit which I am about to 
make. I am going to make this visit, not because it Is 
necessary, for I know it is not, God forbid that It 
should be necessary, nor does the Church expect or in- 
tend that it ever should be necessary; for the Com- 
munity which needs the Visit is in a bad state. 

*' We may say of it, as of man and wife. If they have 
any troubles or difficulties, which they cannot settle 
between themselves, then they are In a bad state; and 

307 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

we may say the same of a Community that finds It nec- 
essary to call in some one from outside. 

" I make this \'isit under peculiar circumstances, hold- 
ing as I do the three-fold office, or the three offices of 
Spiritual Father, Confessor of the Community, and ac- 
cording to the Order of the \'isitation, as the Bishop of 
the diocese, I am the first Superior of the house. 

" I am sure there is no necessity for this Visit, nor will 
I know any more about the Community' after I have 
made it, than I do now; but the Church orders that 
the Bishop shall visit each cloistered Community in his 
diocese once every year, so that such a visit never may 
be necessary." 

On Correction. " Of all the duties that can be im- 
posed upon man by God, that of giving correction is 
the most difficult, and those who have not this dut}' to 
perform should thank God. 

'' There is always an absence of charit\^ in a correction 
given by one who has not the authorit}^ to give it. It 
usually proceeds from passion, and does harm to the 
one who gives it, and to the one to whom it is given. 

" As I have said before, there is no place where vir- 
tue is so much needed as in the office of giving cor- 
rection, and there are very few who can do it, as it 
should be done, therefore when duty does not impose 
it upon you, thank God, for there is nothing more diffi- 
cult than to give or take correction in the right way. 

" And in taking correction from those who have a 
right to give it, after having received it well at the 
time, do not allow it to rankle in your heart, do not 
reflect upon it, turn your mind away from it, and accept 
it interiorly as well as exteriorly. 

" One of the greatest advantages of your life is, that 
you are corrected, that you are told your faults, and 
be thankful for this. Why is it that so many go wrong 
in the world? That many priests go wrong? Because 
they have no one to tell them of their faults. Be thank- 
308 



Exhortations 

ful that you are corrected, that you have somebody to 
tell you of your faults; for every one of us needs cor- 
rection, — the Pope, the Patriarch, the Archbishop, the 
Bishop and the Priest, down to the lowest of his sub- 
jects, need correction, and if the priests are not what 
they ought to be, it 's because they won't bear being 
told of their faults. Try to understand the benefit of 
correction. I do not say you must love it, or feel that 
you love it, it is bitter to nature, but bring your faith 
and reason to bear, and say to yourself, ^ this is bitter 
medicine, but I know it 's the very best thing for me, 
it 's the very medicine I need.' Be thankful to God that 
you are corrected, and don't speak of it to any one but 
God. Take it as a grace that God sends, to prepare 
you for a greater grace, and I know of no surer sign 
that a soul is close to God, and in a good way of ad- 
vancing in the spiritual life, than to take correction 
well in the moment it is given. Pray, pray, children, 
that you may have this grace, to receive correction 
well, and for this you can never be sufficiently grateful, 
but at the same time ask the grace to remember the 
correction, and God Who gave the first, and greater 
grace, will not withhold the second. 

" It appears to me to be one of the greatest graces 
to take correction well, and to profit by it. In the 
world, if we dare to correct, it is seldom well received 
at the moment. The one corrected flies up at once; he 
may upon coming to his better self accept it, but to take 
It sweetly on the spot, and profit by it at the same time, 
is a great grace, which could come only from God. 
Therefore thank Him for it, and beg the grace to re- 
member the correction." 

On Silence. In recommending Silence and Tran- 
quillity, so necessary for the good order of a Religious 
House, he remarked: " Many people find it difficult 
to keep silence; this I never could understand, and for 
my own part, I find it much easier to keep silence than 

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Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

to talk, and I thank God that the benefit of silence was 
thoroughly impressed upon me, in my first essay in the 
Catholic Church. 

** It is not an easy thing to know what to say, and 
how to say it, and to be able to stop in the full flow of 
one's feelings. 

" I have told you, my children, that silence is most 
important in a Religious House, and if that is observed 
everything else will follow, for there is nothing which 
conduces so much to recollection and regularin*." 

** Try to observe that point of your Rule which re- 
quires you to speak at the recreation in the hearing of 
four or five, and avoid speaking sola cum sola. I re- 
member a rule we had at the Seminary, which we heard 
so often, that we got tired of hearing it: * Rarely one, 
never two, always three or four ' — and when the 
Director took us for our walk we were obliged to take 
the companion which Providence had sent us, and we 
were taught that to act the contrary was ven^ much 
against perfection. 

" I heard my fellow students say that the most diffi- 
cult rule to keep was the rule of silence. Though just 
from Protestantism I could not understand it then, 
still less can I understand it now. 

" To me it would be an intolerable burden to be in 
a house with one hundred, or a hundred and fiftv' per- 
sons, and to be obliged to give a word or mark of recog- 
nition to even' one I met, so that if the rule of silence 
had not been instituted for any higher motive, it would 
have been established to avoid the trouble of having 
to speak: for me it is more difficult to speak than to 
keep silence, and the only time I want to speak is when 
I ought not to speak, when I want to dispute or quar- 
rel with somebody, then I can speak ven' easily. Now, 
as I don't want to quarrel with you I have ver>' little 
to say." 

On Obedience. "If you examine your obediences 
and obey with reluctance the merit is lessened, if not 
310 



Exhortations 

lost. Father Abraham left his home at the word of 
God, without knowing why, or where he was going. 
If we understand the obedience, well and good, if not, 
so much the better. 

" You came to Religion to give up your will, and 
every occasion which presents itself to enable you to 
get rid of your own will is of great value. The more 
difficult the obedience, the greater the merit. 

" Try, my children, try to crush out the spirit of 
independence, and thank God every day that you have 
those over you who can teach you the religious virtues 
of submission and dependence. 

" Believe me this is a great privilege, a great bless- 
ing, and I say to you, make the best use of your time 
and opportunities; imbibe all you can of that religious 
spirit which will enable you to rise above that spirit of 
independence which we see everywhere. 

" If there is one thing we ought to be thankful for, 
it is to have been called to a vocation which keeps us 
beneath others, especially in our days, when no one is 
satisfied to be equal to others, but wishes to be above 
others. I have often thought if there is any position 
that is enviable it is that of being a Lay Brother or 
Sister in a community; there are many advantages in 
that vocation, but the greatest among them is that we 
are safe. 

" A man will do anything to save his life, and how 
grateful we ought to be for a state which makes our 
spiritual life so safe; doing always the little that be- 
longs to our vocation. This is what St. Joseph did; 
we do not read that he ever did anything great, only 
that he labored from day to day to support Jesus and 
Mary. I recommend him to you as your model. 

" Our Lord tells us that He came not to be served, 
but to serve — and the Pope signs himself the Servant 
of the Servants. The more we are placed above others, 
the more we should humble ourselv^es. 

" If in obeying there is not always that interior sub- 

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Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

mission which does not stop to censure or question, then 
your obedience is imperfect; but if you obey the voice 
of the Superior, as the voice of God, then your obedi- 
ence is perfect. 

*' If you do not obey the first sound of the bell, then 
you have not time to prepare yourself for the exer- 
cise. . . . You should set out at the first sound of the 
bell, or a little beforehand, so as to have time to gather 
yourself up, and if you sometimes complain of little 
distractions, inattentions or forgetfulness, they are per- 
haps the result of your not being faithful to the first 
sound of the bell. I think you would have been more 
recollected, if by obeying promptly you had taken the 
first grace held out to you. God does not want what 
you were doing before: drop it, whatever it may be; 
God does not want it. He wants you at the Office, or 
wherever the bell calls you. 

" Our good old Master at the Seminary used to tell 
us that the sound of the bell was the voice of God, 
and God should not be kept waiting. He should not 
have to speak twice." 

Exhortation on Humility. " When a father speaks 
to his children intimately he prefers being alone with 
them; not that I think speaking amounts to much 
anywhere. 

*' We read in the Gospel of people being possessed 
by devils, dumb devils, and the Lord help me ! some- 
times I think I must have one myself, for I don't care 
to talk to anybody, nor do I care much for anybody to 
talk to me; but if I do bring myself to speak to you, 
it must be of our Lord or of something connected with 
His life as told us in the Gospel. 

" I say the same of reading as of speaking, it don't 
amount to much; for if all the spiritual books of the 
Saints were packed into one, they would not compare 
with one word of the Gospel. I do a little of these 
things; I talk a little, I read a little, I go on as a body 
312 



Exhortations 

once started keeps in motion for a certain distance; 
but I say to you, if you want to read, take the Gospels, 
read them, study them, and I 've got the Pope at my 
back for this/ 

" If I do speak, I must speak of the truths of salva- 
tion; we all need this, from the Pope down, and if I 
were to preach before the Pope or the Patriarchs, Arch- 
bishops, Bishops or Priests, I would preach on the same 
truths, for they all need to be reminded of them, and 
even the nuns behind the grille need to be told of 
them, as well as the drayman or the market woman; 
we all need to know the truths of faith. What I find 
to say to you this morning must be a few reflections 
from the Gospel of last Sunday, a few suggestions 
which you may develop for yourselves. 

" There are two women in the Gospel who are mag- 
nificent examples of Faith and Humility, and that of 
last Sunday taught us how beautifully a woman behaved 
herself. Then the other, who asked for the cure 
of her daughter, whose conduct was so sublime, so 
magnificent. 

'' It is the only place where the Master seems severe; 
for almost rudely, turning. He said to her sharply — 
never did our Blessed Lord seem so harsh : ' Is it fit to 
take the bread of the children, and throw it to the 
dogs?' as if He said: 'You are a dog, what have I 
to do with you?' What a rebuff! Does she lose 
confidence? 

"She answered: 'Yea, Lord, I am a dog; I know 
I am a dog, but you are my Master, and You have still 
a crumb to throw to me, for even the little dogs eat of 
the crumbs that fall from their Master's table I Give 
me a crumb I ' Oh, the sublimity of that act of 
humility I 

" And that other woman who was afllicted with the 
infirmity, an issue of blood which had lasted twelve 

^ It was in this year that the Holy Father granted a Plenary Indulgence 
to each of the Faithful who would read the Scriptures for a quarter of an 
hour every day. 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

years — a figure of sin, and the Gospel tells us that she 
had spent all her living for her cure. In another Gos- 
pel it is related in a different manner, for St. Luke 
speaks rather ironically (he was a physician), and he 
says: 'she had bestowed all her substance on physi- 
cians, and could not be healed by any.' And St. Mark 
adds: ' and was nothing the better, but rather worse.' 

*' This woman having exhausted all human means 
despaired of her cure — this is the first characteristic; 
she had lost all faith in human means, but she thought 
within herself: ' If I can but touch the hem of His 
cloak, I shall be cured.' She had never spoken to our 
Blessed Lord, she had never caught a glance of His 
sacred eye, she only knew Him from vv^hat she had 
heard of Him, but she felt sure that He would cure 
her. This is the second characteristic: confidence in 
Jesus; distrust of creatures and confidence in God. 

" As long as we put our confidence in human means, 
or in creatures, we have not perfect confidence in 
God, and He will not act in us. Humility — Faith and 
Confidence! In her humility she did not seek to touch 
our Lord Himself, nor even His garment, for our Lord 
wore, as all the ancients did, an inner garment called 
a tunic, and she said to herself, ' If I can only creep up 
behind Him ' — see her modesty; she dares not place 
herself before Him to arrest His steps, or even expect 
Him to look upon her once with His sacred eyes — ' if 
I can but creep up behind Him, and with the very tip 
of my finger touch the extremest edge, or the fringe of 
His outermost garment, I shall be healed.' When 
our Blessed Lord asked who had touched Him, His 
Apostles looked at Him with the greatest amazement 
and replied: ' Master, who touched You? What do 
You mean? Do You not see the crowd presses You on 
every side, jostling and pushing You before and behind, 
and yet You ask who touched You? ' But our Lord 
paid no attention to them, but asked again, ' Who hath 
touched Me? ' 

314 



Exhortations 

*' The poor woman, seeing that Jesus knew what she 
had done, threw herself trembling before Him, and 
our Lord said to her, ' Daughter, thy faith hath saved 
thee.' 

" Our Lord saved her; He saved her body, the very 
least part, in order to save her soul; she was saved 
by her faith. Oh, I have always thought that it was 
the humility with which this woman approached Jesus 
that touched Him ! We fail too often because we ap- 
proach our Lord as the crowd did, pushing ourselves 
up to Him, jostling Him, knocking against Him. 

" The world says : ' Away with your Church, away 
with your priests, away with your Sacraments, we want 
none of them; we will push up against Him ourselves.' 
If I were preaching to the Pope, to Patriarchs, Bishops 
or Priests, I would say the same to them as to the 
washerwoman: 'go with humility to our Lord.' I 
say the same to nuns : try to acquire humility, and you 
cannot acquire this or any other virtue without using 
the means. 

" We must have the faith of these women of the 
Gospel, this saving faith. When all human help fails, 
when we have nothing to hope for from creatures, then 
we turn to God. Oh, this is the mistake we make, rely- 
ing upon human means and devices! We must learn 
to distrust all human means, to detach ourselves from 
creatures, and then place all our confidence In God, 
and attach our hearts to Him alone. 

" There Is a great abyss between these two, — this 
despair of human means, and confidence in God, — this 
abyss is a deep pit, in which we must beware of falling. 
Some persons, in trying to avoid a particular friendship 
— the fear of loving one person too much — end In 
Indifference, they love nobody; and our Lord says, we 
must love everybody; they despair of all creatures, 
and they despair of Christ — hence come sins and 
suicides. 

"What Is the matter with the world to-day? It 

3^S 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

despairs — it despairs of Christ, it wants something 
new, a new Christ, as if the old Christ were worn out, 
as if He had lost His power. . . . 

*' Humility is the only thing that can unite us to God; 
detachment from earthly things is good in itself, but 
it is not all. The old Pagans knew how to contemn 
earthly possessions, for we read of one of the ancient 
philosophers who, having placed all his gold in a bag, 
put it on the back of his servant, but when the servant 
said, ' Master, this is heavy,' the pagan said, * Well, 
throw some of it out in the street; throw it away and 
make the bag lighter.' That was detachment, but the 
pagans knew nothing of humility. Now the best means 
for acquiring humility is to accept corrections and hu- 
miliations; these bring us near to God. There are 
many persons who push against our Lord, even Re- 
ligious, but how few there are w^ho really touch Him, 
after the example of the woman In the Gospel, for we 
can only touch our Lord by humility." 

Praise, Thanksgiving and Gratitude. *' Rhetori- 
cians and orators, in order to make their way Into the 
hearts and minds of their hearers, and carry their 
audience with them, begin always with something pleas- 
ant; I have something pleasant to say, pleasant to 
hear, and pleasant to think of, and which I can say in 
all sincerity. Since the last visit the Community has 
made a decided step in advance, in the spirit of regular 
observance and of self-sacrifice, and I can say this 
safely, because I made the last Visit, and I know you 
all intimately, both your interior conscience and exte- 
rior lives. Though you may know this, still It Is pleas- 
ant to hear a thing that we like. Some person has 
said: 'Happy Is the nation that has no history,' and 
as well may it be said of a community which needs no 
advice or correction from outside, and happy am I 
when I think of all God has done for you. I feel that 
I cannot sufficiently praise and thank Him. I am emi- 

3.16 



Exhortations 

nently satisfied with the community and I may now say 
to you, v/hat I have often said outside; that there is 
not another community in the country where the work 
could have been better accomplished than it has been 
done here, where there has been no opposition, nothing 
to retard the good work. My dear children, I exhort 
you to praise God, to bless Him, to be grateful to Him, 
for He measures His graces in proportion to our grati- 
tude. God does not need His creatures; He gives us 
His graces to make us happy, not for a return, for He 
only gives us one grace to prepare us for another." 

In recommending openness and frankness with Su- 
periors, he added the following: *' God treats us as 
Kings, and we are Kings; each soul is a kingdom in 
itself, and no one can get into this kingdom unless you 
choose to let him in. God won't force you, and I can't, 
but I say to you, the more open and candid you are 
with your Superior, the better it will be for your soul. 
Be open, free, candid and sincere with your Superiors; 
the best Religious is the one who is the most open with 
her Superior, and in your Order of the Visitation I 
don't see how you can get along without it. Never 
allow any coldness to exist, — a wall, not even a film 
to come between you and her. This openness of heart 
is the most efficacious means to produce the spiritual 
growth which is expected of you. Oh ! we are so weak, 
so blind, so insane, so crazy to want to govern our- 
selves; when we ought to be so thankful to God that 
somebody is willing to help us, to bear the responsi- 
bility. 

" Any one who is conversant with history knows that 
ruin comes when we attempt to govern ourselves, or 
to cut off from those who are placed over us. Maybe 
you never allowed yourself to have this thought in 
reading history; that the meanest, vilest, most con- 
temptible, craven set of men that ever lived have been 
bishops, whether of the East or of the West, who sep- 
arated themselves from authority. Take, for instance, 

317 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

the English bishops, if they had been in close union with 
the Holy See, and had given a clear and careful state- 
ment of their actions, receiving advice and instruction, 
then that brute, that blood-thirsty brute, Henr>' the 
Eighth, would never have had the power to make them 
the cowardly poltroons they were.'' 

On Perseverance, '* It is impossible for me, as I 
grow older, not to realize more and more the instabil- 
ity* of the human mind. It is a miracle if one perseveres 
to the end, and this can be only by the power of the 
Omnipotent, Who never had a beginning. Who is un- 
changing and Who will never have an end. We have 
only to look into our own minds to see the proof of this 
mutabilit)' and fickleness. One moment we are raised 
to the heights of Heaven, where we have almost a 
glimpse of the glon* of the Angels and Saints, catching 
the echo of their songs of bliss — the next moment in 
the depths beneath. So terrible is the mutability- of our 
mind that we must continually pray for perseverance, 
not twice or three times a day, but at each moment. 

'* I wish you to write in your mind, in your heart, and 
keep before you the necessity- of praying for persever- 
ance; but we must remember while we pray that we 
have our own part to do. God wills to save us, but He 
will not do it without us, still less in spite of us. You 
all know the necessity- of perseverance, for all the 
service gone before will be of no value if we do not 
persevere to the end. 

" To attain to this perseverance the intention and the 
will must be renewed, as far as possible at txtry mo- 
ment. We cannot bring back the past, though bad, — 
it is gone; there is no use in brooding over past sins, 
or contemplating our virtues; and the future is not 
ours. If we are anxious about something — that thing 
may never happen, or if it does happen, it will not 
be as our imagination has pictured it. So we have 
only the present moment, this one m^oment, and if we 



Exhortations 

do our duty In this present moment, strength will be 
given us for the next moment. 

"Never be discouraged; for discouragement is an 
enemy you have to fear. The Ancients used to say, 
* Stand against your enemy in the beginning, or the 
end will become quite a different thing.' We should 
fear lest we lose confidence and trust in the inexhaust- 
ible, unspeakable, invariable goodness of God. If 
Judas had not lost his trust in his Master, notwith- 
standing his atrocious crime, he might be now where 
St. Peter Is. We should never lessen our confidence in 
the goodness of God, but we must pray unceasingly to 
God, to the Mother of God and our Mother, to the 
Saints and to the Angels." 

" It Is the nature of all things in this world to 
change, never to remain the same, no matter how well 
established. In order to keep anything up, it must be 
constantly renewed, or begun again; all advancement 
consists in a series of beginnings. Happy are those 
who realize this, and are willing to believe it. 

" The writer of Ecclesiasticus knowing the sun to 
rise in the East and go down in the West, to rise again 
in the East to repeat Its course; the rivers to flow Into 
the sea and to be drawn up again, the winds to blow 
from the North to the South, from the East to the 
West, and to begin again to blow from the North, and, 
considering all this, he sought for something in which 
he could rest, and found nothing. 

" Even in the Religious life, in communities there Is 
a constant need of a new beginning, a starting over 
again; so that each exercise Is, as it were, a new begin- 
ning. Just as a traveller on a journey makes one step 
at a time, and that step is finished; but he would never 
reach the end of his journey, if that step were not fol- 
lowed by another, and then another, and so on, always 
making a new beginning until the end is reached. 

" When a ship puts out to sea, the sailors keep their 
log so they will know where they are, but when the 

319 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

sun shines, or they can see the stars, they take their 
latitude and longitude, and make their reckoning from 
them, and thus see how far the little currents that they 
could not reckon have taken them from their course. 

" So, in a Religious community, little currents, or re- 
laxations, creep in, and It Is necessary from time to 
time to make an extraordinary beginning. And that Is 
what the Canonical Visit is Intended for, to make an 
extraordinary beginning different from the constant 
beginnings of each day. No matter what the unworthl- 
ness of the Instrument may be, and In this case it Is very 
great, I assure you; but however mean the channel 
may be through which grace will come to you, it will 
come." 

" Interior perseverance Is not a relish and enthusi- 
asm in the service of God. He may sometimes give 
us a foretaste of Heaven; It Is a help He gives us, but 
it will not last ; If It did last our life would not be worth 
much. Interior perseverance is the will cleaving to 
God, independent of our feelings and Inclinations; the 
understanding recognizing God as the only Good, and 
cleaving to Him by virtue of the will. Nor do I speak 
of the perseverance of a year, or of twenty years, but 
perseverance of the present moment. 

" Perseverance at one moment Is so tremendous a 
thing that It takes the whole soul, Heaven and earth 
combined, even hell, and all that Is visible and Invisible, 
in this perseverance of one moment — one moment, — 
from the greatest to the least creature, all are factors 
moment by moment, as time comes to us, until we reach 
our end and our crown. Perseverance just at one 
moment Is such a tremendous thing that it Is Infinitely 
impossible for human nature, without the aid of God, 
and God glv^es Himself to us with all He has every 
day, at least frequently for this end, that we may per- 
severe one moment, the present moment. 

'* God Is unchangeable — without beginning — from 
Eternity to Eternity; His unchangeableness Is the least 
320 



Exhortations 

communicable of His attributes; but God could per- 
form the miracle of having us go on with an ever In- 
creasing alacrity In union with Him, without ever fail- 
ing, but It would be the greatest of miracles, and God 
does not wish to perform such a miracle, for good 
reasons. 

" So perseverance does not mean never to fail, never 
to hesitate in our way, but it means to begin every day, 
and not only every day, but every moment of the day. 
My children, I told you before that success is not the 
way to humility, so if we were always interiorly success- 
ful in going straight to God, we would not have that 
consciousness of our misery and infirmity which is so 
necessary for humility; and without humility there is 
no union with God here or hereafter. 

" If a person labored for years and failed in perse- 
verance at the last moment, he would lose all reward; 
if at the last moment he changed his mind and his will, 
he would lose the reward of all his past labor.^ How 
is this? I will give you one reason; he did not bring 
to God what God required of him. God does not want 
our work, our labor or our fasting. He wants only 
our interior perseverance, which is the recognition that 
God is the only good, and our will cleaving to Him. 
If I send a person for something, I want that one thing 
and nothing else; even if he should spend ten years in 
laboring for me, and then come to me without the 
thing I sent him for, I have no reward for him. I do 
not want his work, that was not our bargain. It Is the 
same with God; we must bring Him what He requires 
of us, and what we have undertaken, which is interior 
perseverance, perseverance in the present moment." 

* This, of course, must be Interpreted conformably to the Church's 
teaching with regard to inequality of eternal punishment, as well as of 
eternal reward. 



321 



Ill 

SERMONS 



SERMONS TO RELIGIOUS 

THE following beautiful thoughts drawn from a 
number of sermons given to his spiritual daugh- 
ters, on the occasions of Clothing and Profession, of 
the Solemn Renewal of Vows, and special feasts, were 
written down by members of the community, as they 
recalled the imperishable words of their venerated 
Father. 

These sermons were generally given In the way of 
a familiar talk, without any attempt at oratory, for this 
would have been foreign to the Bishop's sweet spirit 
of simplicity, which was so marked on these occasions. 

Notwithstanding his multifarious duties as a Mis- 
sionary Bishop, he would engage himself to say, or 
even sing a Mass for the community, perform the cere- 
monies of the feast, and turning towards his audience 
during the Mass, would pour forth his thoughts on the 
Gospel of the day, possibly developed in his morning 
meditation. 

On one occasion, quoting from the Gospel of St. 
Luke vli. 13 : " Weep not! Weep not! " he said: " in 
the Gospel of to-day Our Lord does not come to us — 
He does not wait for us to come to Him, but in passing 
He bestows His graces; and if we are not there, ready 
to receive them, as He Is passing, then they are lost, 
and forever. 

" It would be Impossible for God to give us that 
same grace — we may receive something else, but the 
grace he had for us then we can never have, that one 
is lost forever. We may get another grace as good, 
but the special one — never. In the Mass of this 
morning He is passing, it may be as swiftly as light- 
ning; if we lose the grace He has for us in this Mass 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

we can never get it again. If you are drowsy and in- 
attentive, and do not do all you can to rouse yourself, 
the grace is lost which He would have given you in 
passing, then that grace is gone forever. You may 
hear another Mass, but that one just passed — never. 
A grace bestowed upon us in childhood would not be 
proper for us in manhood; and if we have lost that 
grace which God had for us in childhood, we shall 
never be what we should have been, if we had received 
that grace. 

" This is what gives to life its grandeur, its impor- 
tance, its awful responsibility. It was in passing Our 
Lord bestowed His grace; what He did then. He does 
now. He is always passing. In this sickness there is 
a grace, if we lose it, it is lost forever; we may receive 
another grace, but not this one which God intended 
for us. 

" But notice — He wishes His Lordship, His Mas- 
tership, His Judgeship to be recognized. He gives first 
a command, He commands obedience. ' Weep not I ' 
The poor widow might have said, ' You command an 
Impossibility; I cannot help weeping over my only son.' 
He commands, and the obedience seems Impossible. 
He tells her nothing of the miracle He is about to per- 
form; she must be obedient before He gives the grace. 
Sometimes He commands the most Impossible things, 
the most contrary to reason, as In the case of the para- 
lytic: ' Get up, take up thy bed and walk.' The para- 
lytic might have said: ' You tell me to do a thing that is 
impossible; If I could walk I would not have been 
carried here.' But he had sense enough to know that 
He who told him to walk had at the same time the 
power to make him walk, and if he had not obeyed he 
would have lost the grace our Lord wished to bestow 
upon him. 

" So It was with the Lepers: ' Go show yourselves 
to the priest.' He had not touched them, they had not 
quite come up to Him, only on the way to do so. If 

326 



Sermons 

they had not obeyed and turned to go, they would have 
lost their grace, for It was on their way to show them- 
selves to the priest that they were healed. Love and 
devotion are not enough, we must have a foundation, 
and there are some, It seems to me, who never will have 
a foundation. If we build a house we must be sure to 
have a foundation. We need not go out to look at the 
foundation every morning, but we must be sure It Is 
there. 

" You cannot treat our Lord as a friend, as a 
Saviour, and end there; you must recognize Him as 
the great God, the God of sanctity, whose right and 
dominion must be respected. Love comes after this 
acknowledgment. God showed this in the beginning 
with Adam and Eve. He demanded their obedience, 
their dependence on Him." 

Extract from a Sermon given at a Ceremony 
OF Clothing 

Januarj^ 3, 1891. 

'' The occasion which has united us here to-day is to 
witness the assumption of the habit and veil (which 
will be followed later, by the succeeding Vows), a 
sacrifice. 

" It Is a happy coincidence that it should occur at the 
very time when we celebrate the Mystery of the Na- 
tivity, for sacrifice was the object of the Incarnation. 
God could have saved us without becoming Man; He 
had in His Almighty wisdom and power other means 
to redeem us, but He could not have sacrificed Himself 
for us, had He not become man. 

" It Is to imitate Him that you are here to-day, my 
dear child. In what does the sacrifice which you are 
about to make consist ? Is It In {giving up money ? No I 
[The Bishop here cited the philosophers of old, who 
had given up all.] Is It in the giving up of pleasure, 
the endurance of hardships and suffering, the separa- 

327 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

tlon from family and those who are dearest to us? 
No ! There is no sacrifice of this kind, even among the 
martyrs, that cannot find its parallel in the man of sci- 
ence, the worldling, the lady of fashion. 

" In what then does the sacrifice consist? In the 
giving up absolutely and forever of that which man 
clings to as to his very life — his will. In giving up 
your will, not in things bad, but in what seems to you 
good; your own ideas of holiness, your secret aspira- 
tions, in what appears to you to be the highest 
sanctity. 

" This is horrible to nature, and would be impos- 
sible without the assistance of grace. But were this 
only for a time it would be easier; we can do anything 
when we know it will have an end; we could even cru- 
cify ourselves for a time. What makes the bitterness 
of the sacrifice is that it must always be. These words 
— ' This shall always be ' — ' This shall never be.' 
Always to do the will of another — never to do your 
own will. And yet this, every one must do even in 
the world who would lead a perfect life. 

" The Scripture tells us that every sacrifice must be 
salted with fire to be acceptable, and this absolute and 
irrevocable giving up of your will for the rest of your 
life is the salting of the sacrifice. Christ is your model. 

" In coming into the world He said: ' In the head 
of the book it is written of Me, that I shall do Thy 
Will, O God.' Then said I, ' Behold, I come. Thy 
law is in the midst of My heart.' 

" Let this be the spirit in which you make your sacri- 
fice to-day. Remember that you do not make this sacri- 
fice for yourself alone. Not even the solitary in the 
desert can say, ' My Father.' He is obliged by Christ 
Himself to say, ' Our Father.' 

" Nor let it be thought that a life of good works in 
the world is better than the life of the cloister. 

" Humanity has other needs than those of the body 
and mankind v.ill ever exclaim : * I want more than 
328 



Sermons 

food for my body, I want life for my soul, I want 
light for my mind and my heart' 

" This is your work; to be accomplished more per- 
fectly than the Sister of Charity can do it in the prison, 
or on the battlefield, by your prayer and sacrifice. I 
will speak now of only two principles which must be 
the foundation of your future religious life. 

" First, God is enough. Second, What the world is 
worth, or rather that it is worth nothing. 

" God is enough. Whatever your sufferings may 
be — and they will be great, — they must be so if you 
carry out your sacrifice, but God will pour His peace 
Into your soul, and you will feel the sweetness of giving 
up all for Him. 

" The world is nothing — nothing of what you give 
up to-day can fill your heart. Begin your religious life 
then with these two principles, and go through it to the 
end, in the same spirit, so that when your last moment 
comes, you can say with your Divine Model : ' All Is 
consummated. Father, Into Thy hands I commend My 
Spirit. I have sacrificed my life for Thee, receive me 
Into Thy arms.' My dear child, may this be your lot, 
to have fulfilled to your last breath the work He has 
given you to do." 

"It is better to do little Things always than a Great 
Thing now and then." St. Francis de Sales. 

January 29, 1895. 

" Although we may know this assertion to be true, 
still If we examine it, and study the reasons why it is 
true, we shall be enlightened and have a clearer knowl- 
edge of Its truth. 

'^ Neither will this be a want of submission or defer- 
ence on our part; for although the Church in her doc- 
trine commands obedience, she does not forbid our ex- 
amining her reasons, but, on the contrary, advises It, 
that what she says may have an Influence on our lives. 

329 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

*' Then much less would St. Francis de Sales have 
cause to doubt our allegiance, since, however saintly, 
he is not infallible. I'herefore, we may readily exam- 
ine the reasons why it is better to do little things always 
than a great thing now and then. 

'' In the first place, it makes us more like God, who 
from all eternity has ever been doing little things. He 
has never spent Himself and been fully occupied in 
doing one great thing. This world is made up of little 
things, and oh, that wonderful world within, which 
far surpasses the exterior world without! 

" The marvellous world within a sanctified soul is 
made up of little things, those little things known only 
to God. A delicious morsel left untouched, an aching 
corn, or a crucifying bunion unheeded, a fly permitted 
to remain on the ear or the nose — these are the little 
things unseen that have gone to make up that wonder- 
ful world in a sanctified soul. 

" The beauty of this world within, far surpasses all 
the combined beauties that can be conceived of our ex- 
terior world. But no one wants to do these little things. 
There are many who are willing to do great things. 
You will find many priests who are waiting to do great 
things, but the little things they care not to do. 

"Nobody wants you to die for them; now is not 
the time for that; but what we do want is a kind word, 
a helping hand, a gentle forbearance, an encouraging 
smile — doing these little things all the day long, from 
sunrise till sunset — putting self out, to please another, 
without expecting or thinking of a return. While 
doing these little things makes us more like God, it at 
the same time makes us useful to our neighbor. I 
never see a gentleman now; there are none, and the 
reason is because the young men want to do great 
things — and they are not equal to great things, be- 
cause they will not do little things. 

*' The gentleman of old was trained from his youth 
to restrain himself always, at all times, in all places; 

330 



Sermons 

to restrain his passions, his feelings, his Inclinations, 
his tongue, his appetite. The young man of to-day- 
knows nothing of all these checks, he looks beyond 
and above all this, he aims at great things; and the 
young women follow the young m.en in wishing to do 
great things. 

" Oh, for that dear old lady whose knowledge was 
little beyond pickles and preserves, and knowing how to 
keep her children fresh and clean, the sunshine of her 
home ! She is nowhere to be found to-day. The 
trouble is, we won't be humble — neither the bishop, 
priest, nun nor secular. 

" I was struck with the humility of that grand old 
Centurion In last Sunday's Gospel. Educated as he 
was, In the midst of all that was cruel, wicked and licen- 
tious In the Roman Legion, yet he manifested so 
much humility In addressing our Lord. ' I am not 
worthy to have you enter my house, but speak the word 
and my servant shall be healed; don't come down, I 
am too unworthy, say only the word.' God so loved 
this humility that by His Inspiration the Church has 
ordained In consideration of It, that neither Pope, Car- 
dinal, Bishop nor Priest should communicate before 
repeating these same words. ^ 

" Even the laity repeat them three times before ap- 
proaching to receive their Lord and Master: Humil- 
ity I Humility ! Humility ! Oh, if we could fathom our 
misery! but we don't, we don't want to be humble; we 
are all mirrors, and reflect the sentiments and opinions 
of those around us! 

" We are praised and flattered, and we then believe 
ourselves possessed of the accredited merit, while be- 
fore God we are sorely wanting. God help me. I be- 
lieve I am like those rascals who think the whole 
world like themselves. 

" I was struck, as I was coming out here, by the 

^ *' Lord, I am not wortl^y that Thou shouldst enter under my roof, say 
but the word and my soul shall be iicalcd." 

33^ 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

sight of one of those fine old oaks, the king of the 
forest. I don't wonder the Druids made choice of the 
oak with its wide spreading branches, under which to 
build their altars and offer their sacrifices. It is a fit 
emblem of an unresisting soul. 

" This king of the forest was once an acorn, an 
atom, but from the continuous action of God upon this 
atom it has borne the storms and shocks of the ele- 
ments for hundreds of years. 

*' So if our souls received the action of God's grace 
from moment to moment, they would grow strong, and 
have power to resist all the assaults of their enemies; 
they would expand." 

Renewal of Vows 

November 2i, 1895. 

" Just two points briefly stated, which you can re- 
volve or develop at length and at your leisure. There 
is a great mistake in saying things are synonymous 
simply because they start from the same point; their 
divergence will cause them to become widely different. 

For instance, there is a great difference between giv- 
ing oneself to God and possessing God, although in 
giving oneself to God we shall possess God. If we 
start out with this end in view, to possess God, our 
lives will be widely different from what they would have 
been if we had in our mind to give ourselves to God. 

*' I say our lives would be entirely different, widely 
different; just as two drops of water falling close be- 
side each other, upon examination, one will reach the 
Pacific and the other the Atlantic Ocean, or as two 
ships starting from the same port, sailing in different 
directions will have the world between them. 

" We must give ourselves without reserve, and that 
is not what people generally do. We want to possess 
God, to have Him for ourselves, to make use of Him, 
to do what zue ziatit to reach a certain degree of 

332 



Sermons 

sanctity, and perhaps God does not want us to be 
there. 

" We conceive a sanctity for ourselves, or there is 
something in the life of a Saint we wish to make our 
own, or we set to work to reach something In St. 
Francis de Sales or St. Jane de Chantal, when God 
does not intend that for us ; no two persons being called 
to exactly the same degree of holiness, and instead of 
being what He wants us to be, we aim at something else. 

** A certain person sees something he thinks Is good, 
very good, it ought to he done, it must he done, and he 
flies of to do it, without considering whether the com- 
mission Is from God or not, or even with the thought 
that, perhaps, he was not the one whom God wished 
to do It. 

*' Let us give ourselves to Our Lord as He wishes; 
let us give Him our aspirations, our desires to be holy, 
and If we give ourselves to Him, we are His, to do with 
us just what He pleases. Then we will be as holy as 
He wishes, in the manner He wishes, and at the time 
He wishes, and not before. 

" Let us keep our good will to do as He wishes, and 
then allow Him to act as He wills. 

" There are some persons who are forever giving all 
the good they do to our Lord, but who never think of 
giving Him their faults and shortcomings. Let us give 
ourselves just as we are, with all our faults and mis- 
eries; then He will make us draw profit from these 
faults, which should serve to keep us humble." 

Another Clothing Ceremony 

October 28, 1896. 
" * Let not him who putteth on the armor boast as 
one that putteth it off.' 

*' Many people begin well and think in this the end 
is secure, but It Is not so. The exterior may give satis- 
faction. We may go even to the door of heaven, and 
fall to the depths of hell. 

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Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

" It is not in meditation, confession or Communion, 
neither is it contained in sanctifying or actual grace, 
nor merited by any prior grace. It is essentially in itself 
distinct, apart and beyond all these; it is in the gift 
of final perseverance, that is, interior perseverance. 

" Xo one can be certain without a special revelation 
that he will persevere to the end; no Saint has ever 
known it, not even the Apostles. St. Paul, who had 
received so many communications from God, and be- 
lieved by others to be confirmed in grace, was himself 
ignorant of the fact, otherwise, what did he mean by 
these words: ' I chastise my body and bring it under 
subjection, lest while I preach to others I myself be- 
come a castaway.' 

" Therefore, pray for this postulant — pray for her 
perseverance — pray for perseverance for yourselves. 
Let us ask the Apostles who are our first Fathers, and 
after St. Joseph, the most powerful in Heaven, to 
pray for us, and obtain for us this perseverance. 

But remember that when I speak of perseverance, I 
do not mean mere exterior perseverance, many may 
accomplish that; but I mean interior perseverance, 
which is to put into each succeeding action more will 
and more love, so that after a life of ten, twent}^ or 
thirt}' years spent in the monotonous routine of duties, 
you may yet put into each succeeding action more will 
and more love than in the preceding one, until the last 
repetition of the act shall contain more perfection than 
any of the formicr. 

" Let us then beg this gift of interior perseverance 
with humilit}^ and humility will aid us to get it. 

*' Of all the miracles God could perform on this 
earth, it would be the greatest to rid us of ourselves. 
But self-crucifixion is slow work. If we could be con- 
vinced of our miser}% of our nothingness, and be willing 
that others should be convinced of it too, we would 
put our mouths in the dust, and keep them there." 



334 



Sermons 

On the Vows 

November 21, 1896. 

" There is only one Being, only one immutable and 
immovable Being, God alone is the only real Being, — 
Being in its plenitude, Being itself. Every other being 
is a creation of His Omnipotence, and if He should 
withhold His sustaining power, all other beings would 
fall back into their original nothingness. God alone 
has the prerogative of immutability from age to age, 
from eternity to eternity, always the same, yet never 
growing old. 

" Mary, the Angels and the Saints do not grow old, 
because God shares with them, in their union with Him, 
His immutability. Everything else changes, withers 
and grows old. The day dawns, grows old and dies, 
and is succeeded by another day. The years grow old 
and die. The trees grow old, and they may last a 
century, die and are replaced by other trees. In all 
nature there is this constant ebb and flow — passing 
away. 

And we grow old and die; thanks be to God that 
we do, for were we to live on, our doom would be 
sealed. The soul grows old in proportion as it recedes 
from God, and would return to nothingness were God 
for one moment to withdraw His omnipotent hand. 

" Surely you must know by this time that there is 
nothing better than to belong to God; by our Vows 
we belong to God; but as we have renewed them many 
tim.es they have grown old, not the Vows themselves, 
but our dispositions, in regard to them, have changed 
and grown old, and we see that there is need to renew 
them. 

" You cannot renew them yourselves, but you come 
to God to ask Him to renew these Vows in your soul, 
and to put you in such dispositions that your attitude 
before God may be as when you first made them. 

33S 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

" And oh, dear children, may you not only renew 
them to-day and then stop, but may you renew them 
all through the day, every day, every hour, a thousand 
times a day if possible ! God could not have given you 
a greater grace than to have enabled you to make these 
Vows. 

'^ The Vow of Chastity. T speak not here of negative 
Chastity, the removal of all that could defile the body 
or tarnish the soul, but of complete chastity, perfect 
purity of body and heart as Mary had it, of entire de- 
tachment from all creatures, from ourselves, from our 
way of thinking, acting, seeing, praying; even from an 
over desire of our sanctification, or of a thought, if it 
could come between us and God. Chastity is a perfect 
adhesion to God. 

" The mysteries of religion are no mysteries at all, 
no mysteries at all; the Trinity, the Incarnation, the 
Divine Presence, the Blessed Eucharist; these do not 
trouble us, the Mystery of Mysteries is that God is, 
and that I am I that I can oppose my will to God's will. 
Our prerogative is that we have a will free — a 
frightful thought — that wehave it in our power to 
use this free agency to our own destruction — to act 
against God! 

" The Vow of Obedience takes this power out of 
our hands, and oh, how thankful we ought to be, to be 
freed from this frightful responsibility of the free 
use of our own will! Abandonment is the aim of 
this Feast of the Presentation. 

" Abandonment, total and absolute, from top to bot- 
tom, through and through, within and without. As the 
men of the world, who take every means to increase 
their riches, we must take every means to increase the 
riches of our poverty. 

" And my children, let us make acts of contrition, 
let us humble ourselves before God; let us come with 
our mouths in the dust to renew our Vows. Let us ask 
336 



Sermons 

Mary to help us, and I am sure she will ; let us ask this 
through all the Mass which is to follow, and during the 
Holy Communion. We cannot renew our Vows of our- 
selves, but let us ask God to renew them in our souls." 

"Make straight the Way of the Lord." John!. 23. 

December 2, 1896. 

" Now what I want to say, if God gives me anything 
to say, is this: There is a great difference between 
antique and modern Christianity. There is a softness, 
a flabbiness. If I may be allowed to use the expression, 
about our modern Christianity. We want to get to 
Heaven. We expect to get to Heaven, but by other 
means than the Cross. We multiply endeavors and 
means; we establish rules and regulations for the great 
day of conversion, and say it Is near at hand. Now 
this is all foolishness. 

** There is no other way to be saved than by a syste- 
matic, persevering self-denial, doing things we don't 
like to do, always opposing self. Now it seems to me 
that this lack comes from want of reflection upon, and 
of preparation for the visitation, the coming of our 
Lord. We do not keep Advent. We do not keep 
Advent as our Lord intended it to be kept. 

When I speak to men, more learned and scientific 
than I am, of the end of the world, they laugh at me. 
Yet the Prophets lived with this thought constantly 
before them, they lived always in expectation and held 
themselves in readiness for the end. The early Chris- 
tians were penetrated with this thought; it was their 
guiding principle; it was taught by our Lord and 
preached by His Apostles. St. Paul kept this thought 
always before his hearers. On one occasion our Lord 
said : ' The Father knows when the end will be, but the 
Son of Man does not know.' He did not mean that He 
was wanting in knowledge, for He shared all knowl- 
edge with His Father; but He did not know to tell It to 

337 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

Others, just as we say in regard to the secrets of the 
confessional. When questioned, a priest can say he 
knows nothing — that is, he knows nothing to tell. 

"Time is short: even if the world should last a 
thousand or a million years, it would be short when 
compared to eternity. For nothing Is absolutely long 
or short, only relatively. A day Is long when compared 
to a minute, but short when compared to a year. Time 
is simply nothing when compared to eternit}\ Ascend 
a great height, the highest mountain in the world, if 
you choose, and everything seems to fade away into 
nothingness. The houses appear like little specks, and 
the great cities seem no larger than a house when 
viewed from such a height. 

" We know we shall die, but the thought of death 
does not take from us the thought of temporal things, 
as does the thought of the end of the world; for when 
we die we leave our relatives and friends, and our tem- 
poral possessions we leave to our children. God pur- 
posely conceals from us the time when the end shall 
come, in order that the thought of the great end shall 
be our abiding thought all day, and all through the 
day. It makes ver}- little dliierence to the world 
whether we die or not. The Church will go on, the 
State will go on, the fact touches us only. But we can- 
not lie down even for one night, and say that we know 
that the heavens will not split over us. Scientific men 
agree that the end of the world is near at hand. Stars 
larger than the earth have existed, and burnt out. The 
heavens are filled with comets that are wandering 
about, and should any one of these deviate from Its 
course and strike the earth, all would be burnt up. 
Church and State. 

" It is a fact that the earth has changed its equilib- 
rium, and that portions of It that were formerly cov- 
ered with snow are now Inhabited: and we know that 
there are worlds and worlds beneath our feet, there are 
fossil remains of birds and animals much greater in 

338 



Sermons 

size and number than those which now exist, and they 
have left no traces but upon the rocks. 

" Reason tells us that what has happened many times 
can, and probably will happen again. We know also 
that there are fires underneath the earth, but we do not 
know that they will not at any moment burst forth. 
We cannot say to ourselves that we shall not see the 
end of the world, and that the end will not come in 
our time; my life, precarious and frail as it is, may be 
long enough to witness that day. These thoughts medi- 
tated upon would give us a clearer view of the nothing- 
ness of earthly things than the mere thought of our 
own death." 

A Few Words spoken over the Coffin of a 
Religious, professed on her Death-bed 

December 21, 1896. 

" Beloved, we are strange creatures; you have often 
heard this before. We are quick to assume to ourselves 
the prerogatives of God and want to finish things, and 
slow to see that it does not belong to us to finish things 
in this world. It is God alone Who can finish things. 
We may begin and stop anywhere, at any time or place. 

" When God calls us to something else, what we 
were doing is finished to God, though unfinished to us. 
God does not want our work, or our labor; you may 
even sin in trying to finish. For instance, the bell calls 
you, you wish to finish your prayer, but the prayer Is 
finished to God, when He calls you to something else. 

" God does not want you to finish, even If It were to 
save a soul that Is going astray; your work with that 
soul is finished to God, though perhaps not to you. 

" These thoughts are suggested by her, who appar- 
ently did not finish the work she came to do, but was 
called away before the habit was fairly won. It was 
won though before God, for before Him her work 
was done." 

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Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

This young Religious had become a Catholic three 
years previous to her entrance in the Convent, and 
after a fervent and edifying noviceship was received 
to her Clothing by the community; but In the designs 
of God she was to pass through a crucible of suffering 
before attaining her end. She was suddenly attacked 
with severe hemorrhages of the lungs, which fol- 
lowed each other in such quick succession that death 
seemed imminent. During fourteen weeks of the most 
intense suffering the Bishop visited and consoled 
her; then she made the holy Vows of Religion 
conditionally. 

On the twenty-first of December, as the com- 
munity stood around her open grave in the cold, pierc- 
ing wind, the ground covered with snow, this benevo- 
lent Father turned to the Superioress, and in kind, 
gentle tones said: '' Mother, can you not send the sis- 
ters in. It Is too cold for them out here; we can do the 
rest." So the community was sent Into the House, and 
the charitable, self-forgetting Servant of God helped 
to screw the lid on the coffin, and to put the earth in 
the grave; thus performing the last office of Christian 
charity for his departed child.^ 

"Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain 
mercy." 

At the Clothing of a Widow advanced in Years 

February i8, 1897. 
" In the Gospel we read these words: 'The first shall 
be last, and the last shall be first ' — and although Our 
Lord placed no limit to these words. It seems to me that 
He did not mean that all who are first shall be last, nor 
that all who are last shall be first, but it means that 
those who are first In opportunities. In talents, in grace, 
may fall and become the last, as they who have fewer 

* It is a custom in the Visitation Order for the Sisters to carry the body 
of the deceased Religious to the place of burial leaving the coffin open un- 
til about to be lowered into the grave. 



Sermons 

graces, by the gjood use they make of them, may become 
the first. 

" The Angels were first by their creation, and the 
knowledge and graces which God gave them ; they had 
not the power to choose and to unchoose, and to choose 
again as we have, by God's infinite Mercy to our poor 
weak nature : they could choose but once — God or 
themselves, and that choice was for eternity; and from 
the first they fell to be the lowest and the last. 

" Others are the first by the wealth which God has 
given them to do good to others, and by a bad use of 
this wealth they may become the last, as in the case 
of the man who hires apartments in a New York hotel 
for his dog, hires servants to wait on it, has special 
meals served to it, or as those who spend their money 
on a ball — the papers recently have been filled with 
accounts of this ball, of which I hope you, my dear 
children, have not heard. 

"In the history of nations we see the same; the 
first shall be last, and the last shall be first. And may 
not the same be said of our own American nation, 
which God has made first in opportunities, in wealth, 
in freedom from debt, and in so many ways that I have 
not time to enumerate. We see the causes, and the 
effects will not suspend themselves in our favor, and 
there are those who seem to be hurrying us on to our 
downfall — not intentionally, not voluntarily, but not 
the less surely. 

*' The serious and thoughtful observer may hear the 
seething and the rumbling of the volcano which is ready 
to burst under our feet; and though we, in our pride, 
stand shaking our fists in the face of other nations, the 
day may come when those we now look upon as the 
lowest, the most degraded, and despicable may rule 
over us. 

" Look at the Jewish nation, called to be the very 
-first, the most favored by God, among whom He was 
born, lived and died — the first among nations, now 

341 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

the last, no longer a nation — scattered as dry leaves 
before the wind, without home, without country, 
branded everywhere with a brand that cannot be 
effaced. 

*' Look at the early history of those who have caused 
most trouble In Church and State — wicked men who 
use dynamite, — were they not once Catholics, called 
by God to be the first by the gift of Faith, they are now 
the last, they have abused the graces God gave them, 
and have turned His very gifts against God Himself. 

" The same may be said of many Catholics, even In 
this country, who have become the last by joining them- 
selves to the Free masons, against the Church. What 
would we say of the doctor who used his medical skill 
only to poison his patients In a more subtle manner, 
or of the lawyer who used his talents only to betray 
his clients, or of the Bishop placed by God to be the 
first — the torch bearer — to go ahead to show others 
the dangers, the caverns and pitfalls — If he should 
be moved by ambition, by love of money, or by negli- 
gence, and Instead of leading his people onward to sal- 
vation, lead them on to their own destruction? 

" And the Religious, the cloistered nun, called by 
her vocation to be the first, may by ambition, whether 
It be for offices, or only for a button on her cap, by 
little spites, bickerings, by a love of the world, (for 
though her body Is In the cloister, her heart may stDl 
be filled with the world) by the neglect of her Rule may 
fall to be the very last. 

" And you, my dear daughter, God has called you to 
be the very first. He has called you from secular cares, 
distractions and anxieties, while thousands are left out- 
side to struggle with the sorrows and trials of the 
world; He has called you not only Into the house of 
the King, to the presence of the King, but into the Inner- 
most chamber of the King, where you can speak to Him 
at all times, you can plead with Him for others, for 
sinners, for all mankind. 

342 



Sermons 

" When others wish to treat with the King they must 
employ a mediator to speak for them, but you are to 
be always in His presence. To whom much is given, 
of him much will be required. Be faithful, my dear 
daughter, and I pray to God that He may not only be 
your King, but your All — All." 

During this instruction the venerable Bishop sat at 
the choir grate in his pontifical robes, his eyes closed, 
his mitred head bent low, like one of the grand old 
patriarchs speaking prophetically — for had not his 
lips been touched with coals of fire from the Altar of 
God? 

Feast of St. Francis de Sales 

January 29, 1899. 

" There are some people who have the happy facil- 
ity of being able to speak at any time, in any place, on 
any subject, or on all subjects. I suppose such people 
are to be envied. I can't, I never could speak without 
preparation; I must know what I am to speak about. 

" Formerly, I used to ask our Lord to tell me what 
I was to say, and generally He did tell me, at least I 
thought He told me, but it may have been my 
imagination. 

" I don't know whether you know what it is to be 
bound up, sealed, without a thought. When this is so, 
it would be as easy to get water out of a stone, as to 
know what to say. I have asked the Lord to give me 
something to say to you; I waited till after the Gospel, 
I waited till after Mass, and still He gave me nothing. 
I went to Mary — I said the Rosary; she gave me not 
a word, as if she would say: 'I will have nothing at all 
to do with it.' I turned to Saint Francis, promising to 
wear my finest soutane with the longest train, if he 
would tell me what he wished me to say to you, but he, 
like the other celestial beings, was silent, as if he said, 

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Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

' Don't talk about mc, talk to me if you will — the more 
the better,' at least this was implied by his silence. 

" We often find mention in Holy Writ of certain 
events which took place in the early morning. Why is 
it that such stress is laid on the time, the early morn- 
ing? The adage says: 'A good beginning is half the 
work,' and often it is the whole work. 

" The Gospel says that the householder, that is Our 
Lord, went out early in the morning to send laborers 
into His vineyard. The Greek version makes it still 
stronger, and says. He went out as soon as the daylight 
began to appear. God created man in the early morn- 
ing, and some of the Fathers say, that He sent our first 
parents out of Paradise before the close of day; I 
don't know whether this is true or not. 

" It was early in the morning when Moses went up to 
the mountain to receive the tables of the Law. He 
went up twice, and both times early in the morning. 
It was early in the morning when God parted the waters 
of the Red Sea for the Israelites to pass through, and 
it was early in the morning that the Israelites looked 
back upon the Egyptians swallowed up by the same sea. 

" It was early in the morning when Abraham went 
up to the mountain to sacrifice his son. It was early 
in the morning that Our Lord was seized, scourged and 
condemned, and He passed through the greater part 
of His Passion in the morning. 

" If God were to ask me what I wished in favor of 
the Church, I would answer. Restore to us the early 
morning. There is no more early morning in the world 
— it is all rush — far into the night, and the early 
morning finds them unable to rise until nearly the next 
night, thus turning things out of their true course. 

" All things are in motion either by acting, or by 
being acted upon. Whether we know it or not the 
battle is constantly going on between grace and the 
devil. Sleep is a great battle-ground, where God 
almost always gains the victory, since the will being in 

344 



Sermons 

repose does not resist Him. There Is here something 
like a Sacramental, In a measure like baptism. Indeed 
if It were not for sleep I think It would be almost Im- 
possible for us to save our souls, because the soul would 
become so fatigued and weak from the struggle with 
the powers of darkness that she would be overcome. 

" In baptism, whether we have lived forty, fifty or 
seventy years, all Is blotted out. Our Lord says, ' Here 
Is a clean, blank sheet ; write upon it what you will.' So 
in sleep, God casts up the accounts and gives us a new 
day, saying as it were, ' Here is a new day, make what 
you can of it.' Each day we live our life. So, my 
children, we will endeavor to rise early In the morning, 
and at the signal given by the Rule, we will spring like 
the trigger; when it is pulled, it shoots.'' (Here the 
Bishop used his thumb and first finger, as if in the act 
of shooting.) 

" A lifeless, dull thing of itself will have only a mo- 
tion downwards, and If once It starts down, we must 
have an opposing force In proportion to Its descent; 
it is easier to turn at the beginning. We must brace 
ourselves as well as we can, and turn at once in the 
right direction — towards God — a moment's hesita- 
tion and we lose our ground. Some people say, ' Oh, 
I am so stupid In the morning, I am good for nothing, 
I can do nothing ! ' 

'' But I tell you, my children, that If you do nothing 
else during the whole hour but make a good effort to 
keep awake, while way down In the soul there Is a little 
flickering light of a good intention, and something akin 
to a few aspirations — I tell you, you are keeping the 
Rule. You have made a better meditation than six 
hours of ecstatic contemplation later In the day, for It 
gives you a better Idea of your own nothingness, and 
of your utter, moral inability to do anything of your- 
selves, but you must do your part by placing yourselves 
before God, that He may do his divine work in your 
souls.'* 

345 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

"Strive to enter by the Narrow Gate." Luke xiii. 24. 

"What is this narrow gate? The narrow gate is 
Christ, but is Christ narrow? In otte sense He is, for 
only oue thing can enter the narrow gate, and this one 
thing is loi'e; unreserved adhesion to Christ, deep heart 
to heart value of Christ. 

Strive to enter the narrow gate.' According 
to the Greek version, the meaning is, ' agonize to enter 
the narrow gate.' We would not be satisfied to 
appear before Christ as we are; not even the Pope 
would say that he is prepared. 

" Well, then, we must prepare twzi, and how shall 
we do it? We must agonize, that is, we must have one 
thought, one desire, one purpose, which is to have su- 
preme love for Christ — an inestimable value of 
Christ; and every atom of our powers should be em- 
ployed in continually striving to cleave to Christ — to 
merge our soul in Christ." 

"Behold, I stand at the Gate, and knock. If any 
Man shall hear My Voice and open to Me the 
Door, I will come in to him, and will sup with 

him, and he with Me." Apoc. iii. 20. 

" Our Lord stands at the gate, or door of our heart 
and knocks; if we do not open the door to Him, He 
does not go away, but remains standing at the door of 
our heart knocking. 

'' If we open the door to Him by uniting our will to 
His, then, ' He comes in to us, and sups with us,' that 
Is, He takes our good works and unites them to His 
merits, in order that we may afterwards ' sup with 
Him,' that is, partake of His glory in heaven." 

Professiox of a Religious 

December 28, 1899. 
*' Forty-three years ago last September I began to 
preach, and when I had to speak I never could find 
anything to say, unless it had reference to the time, or 
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Sermons 

some portion of Holy Scripture especially designated 
by the Church for that time. 

" There was an ancient sect of Philosophers who 
passed seven years in silence, in order to learn to speak 
better, and with more profit. We might reverse the 
order and put silence at the end to atone for our faults 
in speaking. I had resolved never to speak in public; 
I have broken my resolution, and unfortunately I have 
sometimes spoken at too great length. 

" When I was asked to preach to-day, I asked my- 
self what connection can there be between the slaughter 
of the Holy Innocents and the profession of a nun. 
Outwardly there is none, but if you consider it, there is 
a connection, just as things which seem to differ on the 
surface, at the bottom coincide and resemble each 
other. We can understand what a terrible thing it is 
to commit murder, to take away life in hot blood, in the 
heat of passion, even in the most justifiable self-defence. 

" With what horror the Church considers the crime 
of murder, when in the case of a duel, where both 
parties are previously prepared, equally matched, she 
punishes with excommunication the one who serves the 
challenge, or accompanies the parties to the field. But 
in the case of these little babies, where not only one, 
but many babies were sacrificed, babies who had com- 
mitted no crime, were incapable of committing any, and 
were unconscious of the surrounding danger, it was 
an incomprehensible atrocity. And who was Herod? 
Was he a monster? Was he a man? A man — yes, a 
man, and nothing more or less. A Nero — a Diocle- 
tian. There was in Herod vv^hat was in St. Francis de 
Sales, and what was in all the Saints in Heaven, what 
you have and what I have and what these nuns have — 
human nature, and in the same condition, under the 
same circumstances we would have done what Herod 
did; but for the grace of God we are capable of com- 
mitting all the crimes for which men fill our prisons 
and swing on the gallows to-day. 

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Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

"What made Herod what he was? The world — 
and the world Is just the same to-day. We may talk of 
its civilization and its progress, but the world has not 
advanced one whit. Like the ocean, which on the sur- 
face Is ever changing with Its glitter and sparkle, but 
down low, deep In Its depths, are its under-currents un- 
changed from century to century. 

*' Selfishness is the Gospel of the world. Where do 
we see In practice : ' From him that would borrow 
from thee, turn not away. If a man take away thy coat, 
let go also thy cloak to him. And whosoever forces 
thee a mile, go with him other two. If he strike thee 
on one cheek, turn to him also the other.' This Is the 
Gospel of Christ, and men will say: ' That's all very 
well to hear In Church on Sundays,' but ask them to 
bring It Into their daily life, they laugh at you. 

" Ambition Is the Gospel of the world. Your great 
men of to-day — financiers, statesmen, distinguished 
and cultivated gentlemen, if you will, would smile 
and think you Insane, if you spoke to them of the sanctl- 
ficatlon of their souls, or told them that their ambition 
was incompatible with the Gospel of Jesus Christ; and 
yet St. Paul tells us that whatsoever makes us forget 
God Is fatal. The world does n't want God, It does all 
it can to make us forget God; it is the world that pre- 
fers Barabbas to Jesus Christ. It cries: 'Away with 
Him ! crucify Him ! crucify Him !' It is the same world 
that drove the nails Into the hands and feet of Christ. 

" St. Paul tells us that whole nations roll down Into 
hell because they forget God. You may be good, de- 
voted fathers, husbands, brothers and children without 
having God, for you may be all this naturally. Even 
in the cloister after having renounced all you loved so 
much, self may come to take the place of God. Even 
before the Altar something may take the place of God. 
The best and holiest things may take His place; even 
if it were zeal for the sanctlfication of souls. If we allow 
that to take the first place, It would prevent a personal 

348 



Sermons 

Intimate union with God, either with His divinity or 
His humanity. 

" We can commit sin without murder, lying or cheat- 
ing. You can't deny that the world is full of dangers. 
If we were told that the road was full of reptiles and 
asps, ready to rise up at any moment to strike us, would 
we not be glad if we were told that our path lay in a 
different direction, and that we would not have to pass 
through those dangerous places, or If we knew that 
there were lions and tigers in the way, would we not be 
grateful If we knew there were secure walls to protect 
us from these ferocious beasts? 

" But if God commands us to go In the midst of these 
dangers, go, go on; we must obey, God will protect us, 
He has His grace for all. He will save us though we 
were In the midst of the fiery furnace, as He saved the 
three children from the roaring flames. I don't want to 
give undue merit to nuns, for you can sanctify your 
souls In the world. God has His graces for souls in 
the world as well as in the cloister, nevertheless I say to 
you, my dear sister, if our Lord says to you : * Come 
apart. My child, and serve My Person, I do not will 
you to pass through these dangers,' should not grati- 
tude fill your heart as well as the hearts of those who 
have preceded you? 

" You come to the cloister to imprison nature, to 
shut it up, to confine it where you may receive admoni- 
tion, remonstrances and corrections. Therefore be 
thankful, or as St. Paul says : ' Giving thanks always 
for all things ' (Ephesians v. 20) . He did not say feel- 
ing thanks, for these feelings of fervor may be the 
mere spontaneity of nature, and soon pass away, to be 
superseded by the weary, monotonous drag of the Re- 
ligious life; but I mean that thankfulness which springs 
from principle, from conviction of will, which will bear 
you on, up or down, whithersoever it shall please God 
to lead you. 

" We should be grateful for all things, even our sins, 

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Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

If we detest them, if they teach us humility, for this will 
put us on a plane, and give us a knowledge of our own 
weakness and nothingness, where perhaps but for them 
we never could have been. 



Instruction given in Lent 

March 14, 1900. 

*' If man could reach such a state on earth that he 
was above temptation, not affected by it, then God 
would that very instant remove him from this earth, 
for he would be utterly useless, and God would not 
suffer a useless thing to remain. We are here to be 
tempted, and our future character will be such as we 
have made it by using our present temptations to our 
profit. We are always being tempted, and in those 
moments where we feel secure and, as it were, in no 
danger, then, oh then, is the temptation most real! It 
is this insidious temptation which is not suspected by us, 
which is the most dangerous. It is some good we ex- 
pect to find, we aim at it; it is here we may look for 
temptations. 

" Christ's life from the beginning to the end was a 
temptation. He was always being tempted. Mary 
was tempted. The successful issue of a temptation 
does not prove that there was no temptation before the 
victory. 

" There were three things In Christ's temptation, 
and there are three ways in which satan tempts us, and 
which cause the greater number of our failures. 

" The first, we are not where God wills us to be; we 
feel temptation, we wish to make a change, to get rid of 
an office, or to change places to get out of the way of 
temptation, and Instead of that, we have all the tempta- 
tion, and new difficulties added to our first ones. We 
will be tempted In our new place as much, or more than 
we were before, for we shall have our former tempta- 
tion with new ones added. Go where you will, you will 



Sermons 

be tempted. As I said In the first place, you cannot 
escape temptation; If you had remained where you 
were, God would have given you grace and strength to 
be victorious; He Is too merciful not to do so, and the 
reason why so many souls are wrecked Is because they 
are not found where God wants them. They marry 
without consulting God; they marry at a time and In 
a place and whom God never Intended them to marry. 
They are not where God wants them; they are them- 
selves to blame, and It Is a miracle If they are saved 
from shipwreck. They follow their Inclinations and 
their passions. Instead of consulting God. This, then, 
is the first point. 

" The second you may say Is far-fetched, paradoxi- 
cal, If you will; Christ was victorious, because He was 
where God wanted Him to be, and there satan found 
Him, and tried to deceive Him by calling things by 
their wrong names. Satan knew who He was, though 
It Is frequently said that he did not, but he knew that 
He was the Son of God. ' You are the Son of God, 
use the power which Is rightly yours as the Son of God, 
turn these stones Into bread, and do not remain hungry, 
like some miserable tramp.' Our Lord replied: 'It 
is true, I feel the pangs of hunger keenly, but I am not 
miserable, for I enjoy a delicious food, far above the 
food of the lower nature, which none can suspect, and 
It Is by this suiiering of the lower nature that the higher 
nature Is fed.' 

" Then the third Is far-fetched, paradoxical, If you 
choose, but we will see Its truth. There are some temp- 
tations which God has purposely allowed, where satan 
has a certain power over us. Our Lord wishes us to 
remain passive, under these temptations, and not try 
to overcome them, as He was passive under temptation. 
Satan took Him where he pleased. We would not 
allow this to ourselves, we are too good for that; but 
satan took our Lord whither and thither he would, and 
Christ was passive. ' Here you are on the top of the 

35^ 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

temple, see the immense concourse of people passing 
below, cast your eye down and manifest your power, 
and then your influence will gain all.' Our Lord was 
passive, so must we be in temptation of this kind, how- 
ever sharp, putting our trust in God's protecting 
grace." 

Sermon given on Ash Wednesday 
1903. 

" Through the sacred writings a great many names 
have been given to our blessed Lord to express what 
He is, and what He has done for us, and of these many 
names there is one that I have never heard applied to 
Him, and the one of which He seems to be the most 
deserving — that of Painter. He is the first of 
painters, a supreme painter, to whom none that have 
followed can be compared. He does not paint to please 
the eye, but to reproduce His image in the soul. He 
sometimes paints in words, sometimes in things, some- 
times in both together; He paints principles and He 
paints the stimulus to act upon those principles. 

" We see the story of last Sunday's Gospel etched 
with a few strokes of the pencil and very few words, 
but containing a great deal — the root disease which 
we all inherit, and which we bring with us into the 
world; its effects upon us; how it is cured, and the 
effect Christ has upon us in curing this disease. 

" The story is that of a blind man, the root disease 
blindness. Some think the evil Is pride, but I think it 
is blindness; pride is the effect of blindness. We are 
all blind in a certain degree: some are totally blind, 
others more or less so. We shall never see things 
clearly in this world; we shall never see things as God 
sees them, for who could see things as God sees them 
and be blind or proud? 

" The man In the Gospel was a beggar. Because he 
was blind he could do nothing but sit by the wayside 
352 



Sermons 

begging, and living on the chance alms given by those 
who had compassion for him. 

*' The world Is the wayside, and every one Is a beg- 
gar: he begs a little from his eyes, a little from his 
palate, a little from his bed, a morsel from each, that 
lasts but a moment, a passing satisfaction, and then he 
has to beg more. We beg from all creatures, and since 
we receive but a morsel It Is soon consumed, for created 
things can never fully satisfy. 

'' And again, he is sitting by the wayside, for while 
we are being fed with these morsels we are not 
going on. 

*' The wise of this world beg not of this world; they 
have within themselves an estate which Is Christ Him- 
self. The revenue goes on all the time, and so far as 
we are united to Christ do we derive revenues from this 
estate, an all-sufficiency for every need. All things are 
passing and Jesus in them, in sickness and health, in 
peace and trouble; every opportunity for meriting 
grace once forfeited Is forfeited for eternity. This is 
what makes life so solemn. 

" I know St. Paul says: ' Redeem the time past,' and 
these words are generally misinterpreted, for there is 
no such thing as redeeming past time. St. Paul meant 
to redeem the future, that is, to be in such disposition 
of heart and mind as will enable us to get the graces 
that are meant for us In the future. For there Is one 
thing which God does not do. He does not give us 
back time, or past time, if you choose. Time gone Is 
gone forever. 

" A Mass followed negligently does not bring fruit 
to our soul. Christ passes by, and we can never get 
those graces Intended for us In that particular Mass. 
We may get fruit from another Mass, but none from 
the one that has passed. 

" The one thing necessary to effect a cure is to watch. 
This Is only said once in the Gospel, at least as far as 
I know: ' What I say to you, I say to all : Watch.' 

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Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

" Our Lord was going to Jerusalem and would not 
return. It was an unusual event. Therefore, the blind 
man felt the necessity of watching, keeping himself 
awake that Jesus might not pass by unperceived, as He 
would not return that way ever again, and when he 
heard a noise he asked what it meant. He was told that 
it was Jesus of Nazareth passing by. The blind man 
knew what he wanted, it was clear in his soul, and when 
our Lord asked him what he wanted, he immediately 
answered: 'Lord, that I may see.' He merged his 
whole soul in that prayer. No doubt he was pushed 
aside with the words : ' Who are you, you blind beggar, 
interrupting the Master and Teacher,' but in spite of 
obstacles and opposition he continued his prayer and 
received his cure from the power of Christ. He did not 
then go home, he did not turn around to be felicitated 
on his cure, but he followed Christ, magnifying God, 
not only in word but In act. 

" Thus we should follow Christ, magnifying the 
Lord as Mary did In her Magnificat: ' My soul doth 
magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God 
my Saviour ' — making little of everything else, of all 
created things, even making little of the Sacraments 
except as far as God intends them to be used. Depend 
only on Christ and not even on good things; it may 
sound rash, but It Is true, we should make little of the 
Altar and of the Sacraments. We must not depend 
even on the best things apart from Christ. Of course, 
as long as we can receive the Sacraments It would be 
a sin not to do so, but we must use even the best things 
only as means to lead us to Christ, so that if the Altar 
were taken from us. If we could not receive the Sacra- 
ments or have Priests, If we were in the depths of the 
ocean or In the wilderness we would have Christ in our 
own soul — have Him present In us — the All-suffi- 
cient, Eternal Good. Let us rejoice in the Lord our 
Saviour! This will be the effect of the cure; It will 
withdraw us from everything, we shall depend upon 

354 



Sermons 

nothing but Christ, who dwells In the soul. Let us ask 
grace to Imitate the blind man of the Gospel, during 
this holy Season of Lent, watching to see Jesus go by, 
for He will not return this way." 

Sermon at a Requiem Mass — Ash Wednesday 

March 8, 1905. 

After having offered the Requiem Mass for the 

repose of the soul of the venerated Sister , the 

holy Bishop stood at the altar and said these words: 

" The most fitting tribute to the dead Is silence. The 
Church leaves no place In her Ceremonial for words 
during the Burial Service. Words are useless; they 
cannot help the dead, they cannot help the living. 
Praises cannot help the dead, they do not help the liv- 
ing. The hearts to which death does not speak will 
never be touched by human words. Silence, then. In 
the presence of the great Judge; this Is His act, and 
words are Impertinent. I don't mean In the ordinary 
sense of the word, but I mean that It Is Impertinent, 
unsuitable to speak In the face of death. 

'' If you were admiring a beautiful sunset, and some 
one would attempt to describe It to you, — or In the 
awful Impresslveness of a storm at sea, would you not 
think It out of place and unfitting for anyone to under- 
take to give you a discourse, or lecture on It? Such a 
one would be considered a fool, and so Is one who 
speaks In the face of death. I am old enough to know 
I am a fool, but since I have opened my mouth, I shall 
say but two things to you and then stop. The first Is : 
Don't say Sister Is a loss; no, don't say Sis- 
ter Is a loss. You may say you miss her, for we 

often miss a thing which Is no loss. You may say you 
miss her as much as you please, but don't say Sis- 
ter Is a loss. God Is all goodness and never In- 
flicts a loss upon anybody. He cannot do anything 
that would create a loss. It Is a libel to say that any- 

355 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

one could suffer a loss at the hands of God. If God 
lends us a good thing, He Is free to take it from us 

again. We cannot say that Sister has suffered 

loss, for she has passed from darkness into light. We 
are not to pronounce judgment: the judgments of God 
are so great that even the great St. Paul said: ' I dare 
not judge myself.' 

" In some countries it is a criminal offence to can- 
vas a cause before the cause has been decided by the 
judge; I do not say in our own country where the Press 
is a greater tyrant than the Czar, but I speak of other 
countries where they are not so free and have not gone 
so far to the bad as we have. But how dare we to 
speak in the presence of the Supreme Judge; He has 
decided this case, it is His act. 

"The second point is: Don't say that Sister 

Is too good to need prayers. I fear many a poor priest 
has remained a long time in Purgatory because he was 

not helped by prayers. Pray for Sister , keep her 

in your mind, take her with you to your work, keep 
her In your heart, take her to your meditations, remem- 
ber her In all your Communions, and pray for all the 
poor souls in Purgatory. They will not do less for you 
than you do for them, and I believe that God would 
sooner be moved by their uplifted hands in the midst 
of burning flames, than by the prayers of the Saints, 
w^ho are already enjoying the bliss of Heaven. I would 
rather commit my cause to them than to plead for my- 
self; and we will all pray for Sister ." 

The unexpected demise of this beloved Sister was 
a source of great sorrow to the community which she 
had governed as superioress for several years, and the 
Bishop knowing and appreciating her worth entered 
into the feelings of his daughters, and wept with them, 
while encouraging them to be strong and valiant in 
the face of death. During her Illness on hearing of the 
crisis, although sick himself, he took the first train from 
Baltimore, and reached the Monastery only in time 

3S6 



Sermons 

to learn that his beloved daughter had passed to a bet- 
ter world, or, as he expressed it, " had passed from 
darkness Into light." 

After the funeral Bishop Curtis, on returning from 
the grave, went Immediately to the confessional before 
breaking his fast. After he had heard all the confes- 
sions he dined, and then said to the superioress, " I will 
enter the enclosure and speak to the community." 
With eyes filled with tears he sat In the assembly room, 
and spoke these words of comfort: 

" My children, I have just two things to say to you, 
and then I will give you my blessing. There is a pas- 
sage in Saint Chrysostom that comes to me now, and 
which I often think of. There was a great palace, and 
there were many rooms in this palace, and all the doors 
were locked. People ran up and down looking for 
keys; one key was found, and with this key they tried 
to open door after door. It was found to open the 
last door, but to all the other doors this key was use- 
less. So it is with sorrow — It Is useless, and can be 
made pernicious. And yet It cannot be altogether use- 
less, for God does not wish a useless thing. The only 
sorrow that is useful. Is sorrow for sin. God must 
have made sorrow only for sin, for God Is all good- 
ness; He could not do a thing which would be a loss 
to us. I do not say we must not feel sorrow, but to 
foster It as a thing which is good and desirable — I 
say no, for this sorrow cannot help us, nor can it help 
her who has left us. If this sorrow helps no one. It is 
therefore useless, and God does not wish a useless 
thing. 

'' If God gives us a gift for thirty odd years, we 
ought to thank Him for the enjoyment of this gift for 
so long a time, and not grieve when He takes back what 
belongs to Him to place it in safety, for life is so full 
of responsibilities and dangers, that even with our great- 
est care and attention we stumble or fall. You see 
a height which you think you can reach, and when that 

357 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

is secured, up beyond is another, and still another; so 
that it is like walking on a tight rope across the Niagara 
river, bending beneath the weight of a heavy load, 
bending first to one side, then to the other, always in 
danger of falling into the abyss below. 

" Now the second thing I have to say is about David. 
David showed himself very sensible in his conduct after 
the death of the child of his sin. When the child was 
living, David chastised himself, wept, abstained from 
food and drink, threw^ himself upon sack-cloth and 
ashes, prayed, and cried to the Lord to spare the life 
of the child. When the child died, the servants were 
afraid to tell him, and they said to each other: ' Who 
will tell him that the child is dead?' for they were 
afraid. David heard them whispering, and said: ' Is 
the child dead?' They answered: 'Yes, the child is 
dead.' Then David arose, washed himself and asked 
for food. His attendants said: 'What does this 
mean? When the child lived, you fasted, prayed and 
wept, and now that the child is dead, you cease to 
weep.' David answered: 'What more can I do? 
While the child lived I hoped to touch the Heart of 
God; but now that God has taken him, he cannot come 
back to me, but I can go to him.' 

" Now this is the way we must do. Sister can- 
not come back to us, but we can go to her. ' Blessed are 
the dead who die in the Lord,' not happy, but blessed 
are the dead who die in the Lord. Death is God's 
greatest gift; it is the only entrance into peace and 
safety. I have often wondered at the manifestation 
of grief in the presence of death; and this manifesta- 
tion of sorrow is often a scandal to others, not of our 
faith. They say, 'Where is your faith? you believe, 
and your actions are a contradiction to your belief.' " 
Here the venerable Bishop wiped the tears from his 
eyes as he said: " Now, my children, I will give you my 
blessing," and while the sisters were still kneeling, he 
passed out of the room. The effect of his words, so 

3S8 



Sermons 

full of faith, can be likened only to oil poured upon the 
troubled waters, or as if a riven cloud revealed a rain- 
bow from above, and it seemed that each heart heard 
within its depths a gentle voice saying: " What I do, 
thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter." 
St. John xiii. 7. 

Sermon on the Twentieth Sunday after 
Pentecost 

October 29, 1905. 

" The last words of the Gospel of to-day are : ' And 
himself believed and his whole house.' And it must 
have been a large house, for he was a Centurion. And 
the whole house believed! And why did they believe? 
Ah! there 's the great secret; they believed because he 
believed. 

" If you know anything about scholastic theology you 
will know that there are two parts in Faith: potency 
and action. The potency comes from God; action from 
our cooperation. Scientists make many mistakes, but 
they teach this truth, that no atom of life can be pro- 
duced without prior life, and so the Centurion could 
not have imparted this Faith, unless he, himself, 
believed. 

" If the Apostles had not had their tremendous 
faith their miracles would have availed them little. 
The world saw that those men had something which 
they themselves lacked. The Apostles accomplished 
what they did by the all-sufficiency of their faith in 
Jesus Christ; not by what was found in books. 

" I hope, my children, that none of you will ever 
take it into your heads that you have a vocation to 
write or publish books ! The world is suffocated with 
books ! The printing press thinks it possesses all power 
and is doing everything. Where then was the power 
of the Apostles? Was it from discourses and reason- 
ing? Saint Paul says that ' Faith comcth by hearing.' 

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Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

In holy Scripture the word ' hearing ' signifies all the 
senses, seeing, or coming in contact with. 

" You have a mission, for no X)ne lives for himself 
alone; your mission is not for exterior works, but 
your lives should be such that as a good odor, you 
should manifest the all-sufficiency of faith in Jesus 
Christ. This faith should be in your eyes, on your lips, 
in your hands; your whole life should be as a good 
odor to manifest the all-sufficiency of faith in Jesus 
Christ." 



360 



SERMONS GIVEN TO THE LAITY 

THE plain, practical exposition of the Gospels 
which the holy Bishop took so much pleasure in de- 
veloping for the use of his Spiritual daughters is fol- 
lowed by a few select Sermons given to the faithful. 

In admiring the originality of their style and de- 
ducing the practical lessons contained therein, it is to 
be regretted that they are so few in number. 

The Bishop, when speaking on topics into which 
theology entered, often employed his own characteris- 
tic style, rather than the scientific expressions with 
which those trained from youth in the Catholic schools 
and colleges are familiar. It is not, therefore, sur- 
prising that the lack of early training in formal terms 
sometimes appeared, and was criticised; although in 
essence his philosophy and theology were never at 
fault. 

The Narrow Gate 

THE ONE CONDITION NECESSARY FOR ENTERING IT 

Preached in the Cathedral, Baltimore, IQOO 

" Strive to enter by the narrow gate, for many, I say to 
you, shall seek to enter and shall not be able." Luke xiii. 24. 

" One who is not able to do anything, does not, on 
account of failure, deserve even the mildest kind of 
censure. Our Lord presumes, takes it for granted that 
every one without exception has the power, the ability 
to make his way through the narrow gate. We are 
given to understand what is meant by the narrow gate, 
and there can be no room for misunderstanding it. 

" Our Lord Himself is the One Only Door, but the 
question may occur: 'Is it anything less than blas- 
361 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

phemy to call our Lord narrow? ' Yes, so it would be 
undoubtedly, but for His own word: if He had not 
Himself often and thoroughly affirmed that the way 
is narrow. Is He narrow? Yes and no. As to His 
power to save and to receive all into the Heavenly 
Kingdom? No, a thousand times no. Is He narrow 
as to the sole condition upon which He will use His 
power? Yes, a thousand times, yes; terrifically nar- 
row. If we brought Him a whole world full of things 
beautiful, ornate, splendid, necessary and should not 
bring Him the one thing necessary. He would reject us 
as absolutely, as entirely as if we brought Him nothing. 

^' A public life; a public life, if you please, ingeni- 
ous in devising, persevering in executing, filled with 
schemes for the good of the people, plans for the puri- 
fication of politics, for the betterment of education, as 
to morals, for the comfort of the Community; in all 
this there is nothing which can with success challenge 
Christ, ' the Narrow Gate.' 

'* A private life; a private life, indeed, pure and un- 
defiled, cannot, on account of its own value, claim to 
possess a right and just and sufficient title, to enter 
by the narrow door. 

" Parishes founded, dioceses governed and increased, 
food given to the poor, in all this, nothing which by 
itself, of itself and for itself, gives right and title to 
pass the narrow gate. The one thing needed, the one 
thing necessary, is not purity, truth, honesty, self-denial 
nor any other virtue public or private. All these 
exist, and prominently exist, at times, apart from the 
one thing in question. The supreme, important thing, 
the vitally necessary thing is that we must love Christ, 
we must center all our being in Him, we must adhere 
to Him in all things. We must have a supreme esteem 
for the person of Jesus. He is all, the Beginning and 
the End of everything. 

" Let one come before that gate with riches heaped 
up on earth, with a great and useful life behind him, 
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Sermons 

but without that great value for Christ, and he will 
knock and knock for all eternity in vain. Never for 
him will that gate open. 

'' Our Lord pictures the striving by which alone we 
attain to that condition. 'Agonize; agonize, enter 
the narrow gate.' The ancient athletes who contested 
in the great Grecian games were called agonistes. The 
ancient athlete did not prepare at stated times, but, says 
Saint Paul, ' he governed himself at all times, as to 
all things.' 

" We know what we must do during this season. 
Before another Lent shall come that tremendous trum- 
pet may sound, encompassing the whole earth; that 
trumpet, under whose pealing nations shall tremble. 
It will signify the close of the contest. 

" But if that trumpet be not sounded, there is some- 
thing else. The Angel of death may visit any one of 
us. The particular judgment will decide as thoroughly 
as to the individual, as the last judgment as to all. 

" We know not how soon we shall be called upon to 
prove ourselves able or unable to pass the narrow gate. 
Let us put away all sloth and indifference, and urge our- 
selves once and for all to produce, to maintain and to 
increase in our souls, not only piety and devotion and 
the use of the Sacraments, but the adhesion to Christ 
and attachment to Him and His Will for time and 
eternity, which alone shall suffice." 

Preached in St. Peter's Cathedral, Wilmington, 
February 2^, igoi 

"The Leper coming, adored Him, saying: Lord, if Thou 
wilt, Thou canst make me clean." Matt. viii. 2. 

" There is a vast difference between a science and an 
art, although they are generally confounded. One may 
be versed in the science of theology, and yet be totally 
Ignorant of the art. One may be master of the science 
of music, and yet be entirely lacking in its art. 

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Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

" An art can be learned In two ways. One must be 
under the constant influence of a teacher, skilled In the 
art. He must associate with that teacher, he must prac- 
tise under his guidance, he must absorb the art from the 
teacher, who is its very embodiment. 

" Another way to acquire an art is the slow, painful 
process of plodding, profiting by one's mistakes, stum- 
bling at times, yet all the while endeavoring to acquire 
the art by constant efforts. Now, I am going to speak 
to you of an art that is the most difficult of all arts to 
acquire. And what Is that art, dear children? It is 
the art of prayer, the art on which so much depends, 
both in this life and in eternity. The art of prayer, 
the art above all arts. The art of prayer, the art which 
if mastered will decide our destiny, no matter who we 
are, or where we are. 

" He who has learned the art of prayer has all that 
he needs for time and for eternity; he may be in a 
solitary desert, deprived of the Sacraments and of 
all other spiritual helps, yet, if he has the art of prayer, 
he has that which will make his eternity one of super- 
excellent sanctity, provided, of course, that he is de- 
prived of Sacramental graces through no fault of his. 

" Another may confess and communicate often, may 
spend most of his time In the church, and yet be very 
far from pleasing God, In fact, be in great danger of 
eternal damnation, and why? He has not learned the 
art of prayer. 

" Well, as I remarked before, there are two ways of 
learning an art, or tw^o ways In which we can learn an 
art. First from a teacher, who is Its perfect embodi- 
ment, now who Is such a teacher of the art of prayer? 
It Is the Leper, who, coming, adored Him, saying: 
' Lord, If Thou wilt. Thou canst make me clean.' Let 
us contemplate the Leper and learn from him this art, 
so Important and so necessary for us. 

" The first thing he did was to renounce all. He sep- 
arated himself from his wife and children, If he had 

364 



Sermons 

any; he cut himself away from his associates; he 
stopped his occupation; he banished all distracting 
thoughts; his whole mind was directed towards Jesus, 
and Jesus alone. 

" Ah ! even in this, the beginning of the art of prayer, 
we fail. We do not detach ourselves from everything, 
and let our mind dwell on Jesus alone. Like the Leper 
we should realize that everything in the world is noth- 
ing: Christ Is alL The art of prayer cannot be mas- 
tered until we learn to leave everything, to annihilate 
the world from our thoughts, to have our thoughts 
Intent on nought but Jesus, to think of Him and Him 
only. 

" Do you think that is an easy thing to do? Can 
one in a few moments, as some persons really think, 
easily prepare oneself as the Leper did, by renuncia- 
tion of all that would distract him from the art of 
prayer? Ah! no, this art is not learned in a moment, 
but Is mastered only by constant vigilance at all times, 
and in all places; in the street, in bed, at work, wher- 
ever we are, we must learn to separate ourselves from 
the persons, places or things that surround us; we 
must train ourselves to be deaf to them, that we may 
think of Jesus. 

^' The next thought that strikes us when we contem- 
plate the Leper is, that he adored Jesus. 'The Leper 
coming adored Him.' Do you realize what these 
words mean? Ah! we fail here too. Do we adore 
Him? Lord, Thou art my God and my All! Thou 
art the King of kings and I am nothing. Thou art 
all-powerful, and I am but a worm of the earth; Thou 
art worthy of all love and praise; I adore Thee! 

" Such words as these were poured forth by the leper, 
In adoration. Do we ever think of adoring Jesus? 
Beyond a slight recognition of His patience, His mercy 
and forbearance, does the thought of adoring Jesus 
often enter our minds at prayer? Rather do not our 
prayers consist of favors and petitions we wish Him 

3^S 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

to grant? Do we not ask for this and that and the 
other favor, instead of offering Him the Adoration 
which should be offered to Him? Would you value the 
friendship of one who never spoke to you, except to 
ask of you a favor, who only recognized you when 
he wished you to confer some benefit upon himself, 
or upon some one in whom he was interested? 

*' Let us learn, then, that after endeavoring to free 
our mind from distractions, our next duty in the art 
of prayer is to adore Jesus. Another point that strikes 
us in the Leper's prayer is his perfect conformity to 
the will of God, his utter dependence upon Him. He 
did not tell Jesus what he thought He ought to do; 
he did not say: Lord, I am very sick, cure me. Ah! 
no, his was a different prayer. ' Lord, Thou knowest 
all things; Thou knowest me; Thou knowest how 
blind I am; Thou knowest whether it is best for me 
to remain sick, or to be cured. I know Thou canst 
cure me if Thou wilt; do with me as Thou wilt, let me 
remain a leper, or let me be cured; as Thou wilt let 
it be done to me.' 

" Ah, how few* of us pray as this Leper prayed ! He 
knew he w^as best cared for when he was in the hands 
of Jesus. Do w^e not, in our folly, dictate to Jesus, 
instead of placing ourselves without reserve into His 
hands to do with us according to His holy Will? 

" We shall not understand the art of prayer until 
we learn to detach ourselves from outside distrac- 
tions, to adore Jesus, and to commit ourselves to His 
guidance. Then our prayer will be heard; Jesus will 
never turn a deaf ear to the soul that prays like the 
leper, with full confidence that whatever Jesus wills 
is always best. 

" We often hear people say: * My prayers are not 
answered; I may as well give up praying.' This is 
simply foolishness. No prayer rightly made remains 
unanswered; but remember we should pray that God's 
wnll and not ours may be accomplished. Then rest 

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Sermons 

assured that all our prayers, whether they be for the 
Church or for our own spiritual or temporal needs, 
will be answered in God's way, by giving us what He 
sees best for us. 

" We make grave mistakes with regard to spiritual as 
well as temporal necessities. We ask for more faith, 
more charity and for other graces, and we think that 
our prayer is unanswered, because we do not see its 
effect. God knows that if we saw we had more faith, 
we might have more pride; if we saw we had more 
charity, it might mean the loss of some other virtue. 

" God gives us the graces He sees most necessary 
for us, when we leave ourselves to His care, to be dealt 
with as He wills. Prayer need not be accompanied 
by petitions for favors or graces. The best of all 
prayers is the adoration of the soul, the homage ren- 
dered by the creature to his Creator, the acknowledg- 
ment of the power, majesty, wisdom and perfection of 
God, and our utter dependence on Him. 

" Let us try to learn the art of prayer; let us with 
the disciple say again and again: 'Lord, teach us 
how to pray.' Having learned this art, we need have 
no fear. Detached in spirit from worldly distractions, 
with a soul adoring the God of Heaven and earth, 
with full confidence in Him, we cannot fail to reach 
the state of perfection He requires of each one of us, 
and thus win for ourselves a blessed Eternity." 

'' What think you of Christ? " Matt. xxii. 42. 

" Of all questions this is without doubt the most 
momentous. Answer other queries mistakenly, and 
you will suffer little, if at all, provided you know, and 
are prepared and determined to act upon what ouglit 
to be thought of Christ. You may err as to, or be 
ignorant of biology, psychology, geology, sociology and 
all other ologies discovered, or going to be discovered, 
theology itself Included, and notwithstanding live a 

3^7 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

hero, die a saint, and then flash quicker than thought 
straight up from the rocking, raging, restless, treach- 
erous, bitter sea of this life, to an eternal home in 
the bosom of God, provided you clearly know, fully 
remember, and as the one sufficient, sovereign aim of 
life, study to render what is due to the one, single 
Person of Christ. And ' What think you of Christ? ' 
is as comprehensive as momentous. It addresses itself 
to every individual, and is propounded to, and must be 
answered by, every nation, and in either case the 
answer will be decisive as to the value of the present 
and the character of what is to come. For all ques- 
tions whether concerning the nation or individual are 
comprehended in the single demand, what think you 
of Christ? and are virtually answered when we fully 
and rightly reply to that single demand. State-craft 
must kneel before Him, and with full submission and 
loyalty hear and record for invariable use His sacred 
instructions, and then address itself to the solution of 
its problems, or else every statesman will be simply 
Pontius Pilate over again; that is, one parrying pres- 
ent threats at the price of his own downfall, and the 
utter destruction in the future of the people he for 
the moment contents. And the sciences too must group 
themselves in adoration around the august Person of 
Christ, and thence each following some ray emanating 
from Him, make their excursions into the darkness, 
to return incessantly w^hence they started, — otherwise 
they will lose themselves totally in that darkness, use- 
lessly wandering to and fro, and accomplishing nothing 
save to mislead one another in spouting out lies as to 
clues, which end in nothing, and paths that tangle 
themselves more and more, and never bring any one 
nearer to an issue into light or an arrival at a worthy 
destination. And this supreme question is not only 
so momentous, so comprehensive, so aimed at each 
individual and at each agglomeration of individuals, 
but it is imperishable! " 

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Sermons 

" When thou art invited to a wedding, sit not down in the 
first place. . . . But ... go, sit down in the lowest place." 

Luke xiv. 8-10. 

*' A. The Church and what we possess and enjoy- 
in the Church are signified by this wedding feast. And 
the Church is likened unto a wedding, as growing out 
of and depending upon the perpetual union, in the one 
Person of Christ, of two things in themselves so wide 
apart as the nature of man, and the nature of God. 
Again, the Church is a wedding, because the final in- 
tent and effect of the Church, if not thwarted, are to 
unite each of us wholly and forever with God, without 
loss, of course, to our personal identity. Furthermore, 
the Church is represented under the wedding feast, as 
implying that in the Church alone we find not merely 
what our strict needs require, but if we will, a rich, 
rare, costly, sufficient, lavish provision for all our 
proper desires and tastes. Yet once more, the Church 
is typified under a wedding feast as signifying the 
unity, amenity, sharing with one another, and service 
of one another, which ought to exist, and conspicuously 
exist, too, among Catholics. Finally, the Church finds 
its symbol in a wedding feast as teaching us that to 
be fit for a place in the Church, we need to be specially 
and nicely clothed with grace, and the effects of grace. 
And unless so clothed, we are warned as to what will 
be said to us and done with us, when the King enters 
to inspect His guests. ^ Friend, how camest thou in 
hither, not having on a wedding garment? Bind him 
hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into the 
exterior darkness.' We may then well question our- 
selves as to whether we possess such a garment as will 
stand the scrutiny of the King. And whether, too, we 
are finding in the Church, a rich and perpetual feast of 
the soul; or whether on the contrary, while in the 
midst of such a superabundance, not merely of neces- 
sary food, but of dainties, many and delicious, we 
are notwithstanding, from the simple failure to appre- 

369 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

ciate and use what Is always before us and within our 
reach, more empty, hungry and restless than are many 
for the time, by virtue of feeding to the full upon the 
poisonous, fever and delirium-producing things, set 
before them by the world. 

" B. We, then, are called In the Church to the 
rich and only fully satisfying Table of the Lord. And 
next note well something which to one having as yet 
never looked very deeply and closely Into himself may 
seem strange and even false. Namely, our Lord Im- 
plies that each of the guests at His wonderful feast 
is disposed to claim for himself the very highest of all 
the many seats provided, which is another way of say- 
ing that every man is by nature prone to assume that 
he is immeasurably better than anybody else, and en- 
titled to gratify even his mere whims, at any cost what- 
ever to any number of other men. And would this - 
were all, but naturally the folly and malice of each 
human soul goes infinitely further, for until re-begotten, 
enlightened, subdued and transformed by Christ, each 
is not only disposed to take for granted that he is of 
more worth than the rest of mankind, but each just 
escapes being Incurably impregnated with the mon- 
strous delusion that he is a great deal better than 
God Himself. I can't take the time to demonstrate 
the truth of this tremendous assertion. And I feel 
quite sure that to some — perhaps to all of you — 
this assertion will seem to be hideously, enormously 
false. But charge your memories with what I assert, 
and if you go on thinking, praying and studying your- 
selves, and If ten or twenty years hence, you still re- 
member the preacher and his hideous accusation of 
human nature, you will say to yourself, whatever may 
be the case of others, yet as regards myself, the Bishop 
of Wilmington said simply the truth, when he affirmed 
that until of Christ re-created, every man assumes, not 
only that he is entitled to trample down all other men, 
in order to get anything he chances much to desire, 

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Sermons 

but entitled also to make nothing at all of God Him- 
self, in behalf of the fulfilment of any one of his 
caprices. 

" C. Note next, how our Lord intimates that the 
only way of curing our Innate propensity to arrogate 
to oneself the highest seat, is to make oneself take the 
lowest seat of all. The seat, it is plain, is not any 
exterior position. Because exteriorly there is but one 
lowest seat and one only can occupy that. But our 
Lord recommends each and every one to take the 
lowest seat. This seat then is to be found in the 
heart of each. Exterior prominence and superiority 
have nothing to do with it. The Pope not only may 
occupy, but ought to occupy, — and he will not be en- 
viable hereafter unless he does at once occupy, — the 
highest exterior and the lowest interior seat; that is 
to say, every Christian, from the Pope down to the 
collector of garbage, ought to study to impress himself 
more and more with the ever present, ever effective 
conviction that he Is the very least and lowest of the 
children of Adam. Half measures will not succeed. 
If we do not incessantly and vigorously depress our- 
selves down to the very bottom In our own esteem, 
we shall be eternally climbing to the very apex, not 
only above men and angels, but over God Himself. 

'' How well Mary had learned this secret, and hence 
at the very moment when assured that she was to be 
above all creatures and next to God Himself — she 
said not ' happy Mary,' but ' my soul doth magnify the 
Lord ' — because He hath vouchsafed to cast a glance 
upon the baseness and abjection of His slave. So, 
then, we must genuinely aim to make ourselves last, or 
we shall not cure thoroughly even if we begin to cure 
ourselves, of the hideous Insanity of tacitly taking It 
for granted that we are the very first of all. But, 
one says, this is too much. There ought to be reason 
In all things. And, then, can any good come of think- 
ing and acting a lie, even In behalf of the acquisition 

371 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

of a thing so beautiful and restful as lowliness? I 
am not the lowest of all, and why should I pretend that 
I am? I know that I have more sense than some 
possess, and I know, too, that I am not as bad as 
many others. But listen: what do you really and truly 
know of others? A good deal less than just nothing 
at all. You are full of imaginations about others, and 
nearly all utterly false, and the rest having a little 
truth mixed with and nullified by a great deal more 
of falsehood. And ignorance is better than delusion. 
You, then, genuinely know nothing of any one save 
yourself. And of your own self you know little fully 
and indefeasibly save that you have always been an 
immense fool, and have been over and over again 
guilt}' of sins, the length, breadth, height and depth 
of which God alone can adequately appreciate. You, 
then, really know — nor can ever come thus to know 
— of your neighbor anything justifying you in making 
little of him, while on the other hand, of yourself, and 
as really belonging to yourself, you know nothing at 
all save that you are, and always have been, an inex- 
haustible mine and magazine of folly and sin. But 
upon which should we act, Ignorance or knowledge? 
Knowledge, of course. Of my neighbor, then, I know 
almost nothing, and what I really do know, not what 
I imagine of him, all tends to entitle him to mv venera- 
tion. For I do know that he Is the child of God. and 
is redeemed of Christ, Is dear to Mary and wonderfully 
valued of the Angels. But whether he has much or 
little sense I cannot tell. For most real sense Is most 
to love and serve God and man, according to one's 
place, abilities and graces. And I am far from being 
able to determine with certaint}', that the murderer go- 
ing to be hanged to-morrow, would not have loved and 
served God more than I have done, had he had my 
graces, abilities and opportunities. Able, then, to be 
absolutely certain of nothing to my neighbor's discredit, 
I am absolutely certain of a host of things proving me 

372 



Sermons 

filled with hideous malice and boundless folly. And 
being certain of so much more to my discredit than 
I can ever become certain of with respect to any one 
else; reason, as well as the word of the Lord, affirms, 
that instead of putting any one below myself on ac- 
count of the imagination of infirmity on his part, I 
ought rather to esteem myself least of all on account 
of certainly knowing of myself such foolishness and 
guiltiness, as I can never with certainty and safety 
ascribe to anybody else. But, be it that you know 
that you have more sense and goodness than some 
others whom you have seen, or of whom you have 
heard, are that sense and goodness really your own? 
If not, be they as great as they may, how do they 
furnish any reason for putting yourself before others? 
My neighbor and myself are going along together to 
the same bank, each with nothing at all of his own in 
his pocket, but I carrying a larger sum than he to 
be deposited, in either case to the credit of neither. 
Have I any right to regard myself as richer than he 
because I am entrusted with a larger sum than he 
transports? If not, how am I better than my neigh- 
bor because I am carrying towards judgment and the 
day of accounting for all, more of God's goods than 
God has been pleased to entrust to some of my neigh- 
bors? God's gifts then are God's glory, and ought 
not to be falsely and wrongly perverted as to foster 
man's self-esteem. What is truly and altogether my 
own is, then, not sense or goodness; but the immense 
and incessant frustration in myself and in others of 
God's gifts, graces and operations — I know how great 
and obstinate this frustration has been, and still is, 
on my own part. But never can I come to know with 
certainty that such frustration has been greater in 
any one else whomsoever than in my own self. And 
again, what I indefeasibly know of myself ought to 
triumph over what I can at best but suspect as to 
others; hence reason puts truth and certainty before 

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Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

the most uncertain of suspicious reckoning. Christ 
says : Put your known frustration of God — your only 
real piece of true property — before an imagined de- 
ficiency on the part of your neighbor, draw thence your 
conclusions, and do your utmost to get and keep below 
him." 



374 



SHORT SAYINGS FROM VARIOUS 
SERMONS 

WE must pray for Faith. We think we have it, 
but if on occasions we sift things to the bot- 
tom we will find that we have more faith in our own 
judgment, our wisdom, even our senses and inclina- 
tions, than we have in the wisdom and goodness of 
God. If this were not so, we would not be constantly 
choosing one thing and rejecting another." 



" What a terrible thing it is to communicate hasty 
impressions I Remember this one thing — it is terri- 
ble, but it is a fact, that when an accusation is once 
made (O when you come to think of it, it is terrible!) 
that person is never just the same as he was before 
the accusation was made, even if he is not in fault, 
still he is not the same. When this is done, you in- 
jure yourself, the one who listens, and the one of whom 
it is spoken." 



'' There is one thing that gives a charm to life in 
the world, and that is mutual, respectful intercourse, 
cordial politeness and courtesy. It adds so much to 
peace and happiness to see and feel the mutual respect 
which comes from the recognition of God's image." 



" And the Angel departed from her." 
" Had the messenger been other than an Angel, a 
man, even a good, holy man, he would have waited to 
ask some questions; but the Angel having fulfilled the 
mission of God departed." 

Feast of the Annunciation. 

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Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

" Ridicule, even if not meant, shows clearly that at 
bottom we have no respect for the person, — for where 
there is respect there cannot be ridicule. Of all dan- 
gers, scorn is the most to be feared. 

'' Tennyson, who was not a spiritual man, said: 

* For in those days no knight of Arthur's noblest dealt in scorn ; 
But if a man were halt or hunched, in him 
By those whom God had made full-limbed and tall, 
Scorn was allowed as part of his defect, 
And he was answered softly by the King 
And all his table ' — 

" The poets sometimes have very clear spiritual In- 
sight. A noble soul could have but a noble thought, 
a mind that could entertain, or give birth to thoughts 
of scorn, must indeed be a mind mis-shapen and de- 
formed. ' 

" There are some who by nature see the ridiculous 
first. They are struck by it, and it is a dangerous 
disposition. It can bring them no good to prove that 
others are in fault. It is so foolish; they can be no 
better for showing up the faults of others; it adds 
nothing to their merit to prove that others are in fault. 
The person who is censured does not hear it, cannot 
correct the fault; and the one to whom they speak is 
injured by the conversation." 



376 



IV 
NOTES FOR RETP.EATS 

GIVEN ON FOUR DIFFERENT OCCASIONS TO PRIESTS 

Found in Note-hooks in Bishop Curtis^ own 
Handwriting 



INTRODUCTION 

THE complete and perfect arrangement of Notes 
for retreats, the " Three Hours' Prayer " and the 
selected quotations from the early Fathers, give a bet- 
ter idea of the Bishop's depth of intellect and sublimity 
of thought than anything that has preceded; these are 
invaluable in portraying the greatness of his ascetic 
soul. The care and precision in collecting these notes, 
traced by his own hand, testify to the admirable order 
which reigned in him, and which was conspicuous 
throughout his whole career. 

The first of these retreats was given in Baltimore at 
Saint Mary's Seminary in the year 1896 to the Clergy 
of the Diocese of Wilmington, and of the Archdiocese. 
Although he had preached a good number of retreats 
to Religious and seculars as a priest and afterwards 
as Bishop, this was the beginning of a series of retreats 
to the Clergy, Seminarians and Students of the Univer- 
sities and Colleges. 

For years the Bishop had a burning desire to deliver 
his soul to the Clergy in a retreat, and now as he 
neared the time of his resignation of the See of Wil- 
mington, the Will of God was made manifest by a sort 
of command on the part of Cardinal Gibbons. Hith- 
erto His Eminence had requested it as a favor, but on 
this occasion the Bishop felt that it was no longer 
allowed him to refuse. 

The Cardinal declared at the close of this retreat 
that it was the best he had ever attended, " although 
Father Curtis," as he fondly called his Vicar-General, 
" did not spare our feelings." Many of the Priests 
were of the same opinion; and some were heard to 
say, that it was the first retreat they had ever renlly 

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Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

made. When the Bishop was congratulated on his 
success and told what a good retreat It had been, 
" Yes," he replied, " so good, that I had to do penance 
for it." He actually humbled himself at the close of 
that retreat by asking pardon of all who participated. 

The notes of the retreat are very meager and hardly 
give more than the substance of the Bishop's deliver- 
ances, which consumed more than an hour at each exer- 
cise, and it may readily be understood that the preacher, 
who was a living embodiment of the ideal man of God, 
must have held his hearers captive by the vigorous 
intensity of his language and the earnestness of his 
manner. 

" The Three Hours' Prayer," prepared and 
preached by the Bishop on Good Friday of every year 
but one during the administration of his Diocese, gives 
some Idea of the knowledge he possessed of Scriptural 
Church History. The tableaux will no doubt furnish a 
good object lesson to those Religious and seculars, who 
can understand and appreciate his rare abilities, while 
the quotations from the works of the early Fathers and 
the Pagan Authors display the depth of his ascetlcal 
studies. 

The Prodigal Son seems to be his favorite subject, 
for there are no less than three different versions of 
this old, but oft repeated Story of the Gospel. 

In publishing these fragments of the Bishop's Spirit- 
ual Doctrine, his saintly influence must be felt and ex- 
tended, and thus " prolong the sanctifying action of his 
direction, which was strong and sweet like the Gospel," 
from whence he drew all his supernatural force. 



380 



ST. MARTS SEMINARY 

Baltimore, 1896 

INTRODUCTORY 

A. What am I going to do? Why am I going to 
do it? How is it to be done? 

First. We are going to make a retreat, and what 
precisely is a retreat? It does not consist in producing 
in ourselves a present interior glow, this is an accident 
merely. It may come, and yet rather as an occasion 
of vitiating than of fructifying our retreat. For reso- 
lutions made under sensible fervor very commonly fade 
away, as that fervor itself exhales. I am far from for- 
bidding anyone from heating his soul till it, so to speak, 
melts, becomes fluid, and is thus rendered capable of 
being moulded over into another and better form. I 
merely wish to assert that the retreat is not primarily 
for the time of the retreat itself, as a good many I 
think tacitly at least imagine. 

Second. Not principally as a preparation for an 
extraordinary confession. 

Third. Least of all as an act of mere exterior 
obedience to the Bishop. The thing itself to be dis- 
tinguished from its appendages — from the means to 
it, and from all that which is of its integrity, but not 
of its essence. The thing itself then, or the essence of 
the retreat — attention. 

B. Why do we make the retreat? Because we all 
imperatively need to make it; if in mortal sin, if in 
venial sin, if having done well since the last retreat. 
Some will never make another, dying before the time 
comes. Worse still, some may live a good while, and 
never really make another retreat. 

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Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

C. How shall we make the retreat? First, we 
must have the will, genuine will to make it. Second. 
We must go to bed in due time, and keep out of one 
another's rooms. Third. We must keep silence. 
Fourth. Give right attention to preacher, and pray 
for him. 



MEDITATION. TUESDAY MORNING. THE FEAR OF 

THE LORD IS THE BEGINNING OF WISDOM " 

First Point. What precisely do we mean by the fear 
of the Lord, i. e., the reason why we fear Him. God's 
divine attributes of greatness, truth, justice, goodness, 
love, and particula^rly the latter. The same God who is 
infinite love will say to the damned: "Depart from 
Me, ye accursed! " 

Second. Common grounds of this fear. A. May 
misuse all. B. Propensity to misuse. C. Tempta- 
tions to misuse. Blindness, coming of misuse; muta- 
bility in the good. 

Third, Reasons for fear peculiar to the priest: tre- 
mendous duties, responsibilities and heinousness of sin 
in him; so many more ways in which he can sin. His 
freedom practically from restraint or admonition even. 
His autocracy, and the veneration and deference of 
the faithful. His secure position tempting him to take 
things easily. Formalitv: professionalism, coming to 
regard truth, right, humility, penance and all the things 
he inculcates, as rather for the people than for himself. 
Becoming taken up with the sense of his immunities and 
emoluments, to the forgetfulness of his duties and 
dangers. 

Difficulty of converting to a better life. Priests often 
have only the rule of conscience and the unseen eye of 
God; and the world, flesh, and the devil laying snares 
for the abuse of their liberties. 



382 



Notes for Retreats 



CONFERENCE. TUESDAY MORNING. A PRIEST MUST 
BE A GENTLEMAN, OR A PRIEST IS ENTITLED TO 
LIVE AS A GENTLEMAN 

/. Maxims, the good of them if true. 

2. Mischief arising when maxims are false, such as 
a man must look out for himself first. Business is busi- 
ness; this justifies all forms and methods concerning 
stocks, etc. 

^. Greater mischief perhaps when the maxim is 
ambiguous. 

/J.. Maxim in question very ambiguous. Many kinds 
of gentlemen. 

5. Define a true gentleman, in the only sense in 
which a priest is permitted to aim at gentlemanliness. 
Truth, justice, temperance, fortitude, reverence for all 
things, specially for the weak, lowly and despised; 
wider, nicer and more intelligent consideration of 
others as to all things, and very specially as to personal 
eccentricities and peculiarities. Christ is the model, il- 
lustrated in manifold ways; not the least when dying 
upon the Cross in indescribable agony. He puts His 
lips to the soporific balm offered Him by a sympathetic 
soldier, as a courteous recognition, though He would 
not take the relief. Only a true disciple of Christ can 
be a true gentleman. 

Acting on Principle. A few right principles : Do not 
do what you cannot do rightly. Do not build or im- 
prove churches if you have to contract debt. Do not 
act when you are in doubt, wait until you get further 
light.^ 

Principles or maxims to be valuable must be univer- 
sally applicable. Nothing so dangerous as principles or 
maxims half truths and half lies; whole lies are not 
nearly so pernicious. 



383 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 



CONFERENCE. TUESDAY P. M. EXAMPLE 

Example Is a great power for good or evil, possessed 
and exercised by all, at all times, and its effects are for 
all time. It may be compared to the rings made by 
casting a stone in the river. 

Every man has more or less power of influencing 
others, and each is responsible for the effect of his 
example. 

Christ an example principally by virtue, not of His 
official acts, but by means of His private conduct as Son 
of Man, 

A function of the priest is to prolong and perpetuate 
Christ's example. 

Some ways in which we generally disedify by our ex- 
amples : Want of economy. Restlessness, roving and 
idleness. Most of all prayerlessness. Priests ought 
not to be ashamed to be pious ; it is their business to be 
so. Doctors and lawyers are not ashamed to appear 
what they are; why should priests be otherwise? 



MEDITATION. TUESDAY P. M. EARNESTNESS 

First Point. What is earnestness? It is not great 
oratory, great power, emotional feeling. It is not doing 
anything out of the common. It is constantly, consis- 
tently, monotonously accomplishing the duties assigned 
us by God's authority at every sacrifice. Religious 
monks and nuns are the highest types. Their lives are 
the highest sort of martyrdom. 

Second Point. Opposed to it is tepidity. It was not 
a layman, but the highest prelate that the Lord spewed 
out of His mouth. Indifference, the curse of our age. 
Indifference, the great enemy everywhere. The liabil- 
ity of the priest to fall into the worst kind of indiffer- 
ence. Fear expels indifference more thoroughly and 
quickly than anything else. 

384 



Notes for Retreats 

Third Point. Distinguish earnestness genuine and 
sustained, from earnestness fitful and rather matter of 
passing emotion than the effect of principle. Test of 
genuine earnestness: superiority to monotony and 
sameness. Power of earnestness as seen in men of the 
world. The power it too will give the priest, and not 
only so, but the greater happiness it will bring himself. 
Grounds of earnestness. God deserves the best service 
we can give. Priests should not be outdone by laity in 
loyalty and piety, we become priests of our own voli- 
tion, none forced us to be such; all we have and are, 
all intellectual, spiritual and natural gifts ought to be 
given to the duties of the priesthood. 



MEDITATION. WEDNESDAY A. M. REFLECTION 

First Point. The fear of the Lord taking hold of us 
produces earnestness, which in turn begets reflection. 
What is reflection? Not finding out something new; 
not proving to others or to one's own self anything. 
But for one's self alone trying to see more and more the 
value of truth, once for all previously recognized. It 
is, as the word signifies in its old meaning, a " bending 
back," on and into ourselves. Gazing at God while 
contemplating and dwelling upon any truth applicable 
to, or applied to our soul. To do this properly it is 
necessary to drop every other thought and surround- 
ing, and all other consciousness. Distinguish from con- 
templation, distinguish from discursive thought. Books 
are not necessary. This form of reflection leads to 
sanctity, nothing can take its place. Reflection is the 
nearest, easiest, most ready and most powerful means 
of sanctification. This is the great work for which 
everything in the heavens and on earth is created. 

Second Point. Necessity of reflection: not reading, 
not study, not discoursing, not culture nor vocal prayer 
nor work. In no other possible way can one suflicicntly 
appreciate, assimilate and appropriate the truth. No 

385 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

one can sanctify us but ourselves. We must grow, 
grow, grow in it like the oak. Not God Himself can 
help us without our cooperation. We ourselves must 
do the work. We are created alone, one by one. We 
shall be judged one by one, rewarded or punished one 
by one. Without reflection there can be no sanctifica- 
tion, and according to reflection will it be proportioned; 
away then with all theories and formulas. Face to face 
with God and our own soul, must we reflect. 

Third Point. Hints as helps to reflection. Few sub- 
jects, and they the principal things, — assign different 
days of the week for different truths to be reflected 
upon; for Instance, Monday, Sin; Tuesday, Hell; 
Wednesday, Judgment; Thursday, Real Presence or 
the Blessed Eucharist; Friday, the Passion; Saturday, 
Death; and Sunday, Heaven. These are subjects 
always ready and inexhaustible. 

A time every day for reflection — Beads, OflEce, 
Mass. 

CONFERENCE. WEDNESDAY A. M. " IT IS NOT A 
MORTAL SIN " 

Hypocrites give utterance to such language. 

1. What Is mortal sin In any one? It is the very ef- 
facement of God. The most stupendous mystery Is our 
power to frustrate, aye, to annihilate God's will. This 
we do by one mortal sin. Examples : A doctor poison- 
ing his patients. A lawyer selling his clients. A gen- 
eral betraying his troops and his country. A watch- 
man burning down the city. Banker investing and steal- 
ing deposits. Master scuttling the ship, and drowning 
the passengers and crew. Mother murdering her chil- 
dren. Wife Clytemnestra slaying Agamemnon. Pi- 
late. Magnates. Judas. 

2. What In a Priest? Mortal sin in a priest makes 
him worse than Judas. A priest ought to be another 
Joseph, spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and how 

386 



Notes for Retreats 

Is It conceivable that he could live only to avoid mortal 
sin ? Take the priest with his Office. It ought to be his 
greatest solace to turn to Its holy, sweet Inspirations 
after hours spent In listening to the sickening details of 
poor, sinful humanity. How Is It possible that a priest 
could neglect It, could wish to curtail it ? 

3. Impossibility of determining even in the case of 
others what Is or Is not a mortal sin. Who Is the theo- 
logian that can always draw the line of demarcation? 

4. Dreadfulness of deliberate, venial sin. Venial 
sins lead to mortal sins. Moral theology was not for 
one to apply personally to one's self, but officially to 
others; no man can judge rightly, for when he has 
judged, when his confessor has judged, it will still be 
Christ's privilege to judge. Hence St. Paul could say: 
I do no wrong, yet in this I am not justified, for it is 
not I, but Christ who judgeth me. 

5. All Christians are meant not merely to keep 
from sin, but to grow In grace and virtue, most of all 
priests. 

CONFERENCE. WEDNESDAY P. M. PREACHING 

What Is preaching? Not oratorical display; not 
scolding as to matters personal or parochial, nor even 
necessary rebuke or Instruction on these matters; not 
putting in so much time; not discussing questions and 
fads of the day. But the Inculcation of something of 
concern to all, and asserted, or evidently contained, in 
the everlasting Gospel of Christ, and Itself, therefore 
everlasting. The real Ideal orator is the sanctified 
man. We can all be and we are appointed to be 
preachers. What is a preacher? The Scripture and 
our Blessed Lord define him to be a herald — a herald 
IS one who delivers a distinct, definite message of an- 
other. Priests have received this definite message, and 
when they confine themselves to this they are preachers, 
no matter what their learning or eloquence or defi- 

387 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

ciency may be. The message they have received Is to 
preach Christ and Him crucified. This Is all, and this 
is enough to occupy them. What is the use of going 
hither and thither, boasting and bragging of what one 
knows nothing about: the future of this nation or of 
that nation. A preacher must see clearly his message, 
recognize its worth if he really wants to bring it home 
to the hearts of his hearers. Never must personal pique 
find place in him, and never must he mean to reflect 
upon Individuals. 

Methods, doctrine and practice always together; 
brevity; have a distinct proposition; define It; give the 
cause or grounds of it, and then add the result. 

Helps, study of Holy Writ. Select theme, one week 
ahead — so many things during the week will come up 
as data and suggestions. Do not keep the people wait- 
ing more than one half hour when there is Mass or Ves- 
pers; you may be longer without these. 

MEDITATION. WEDNESDAY P. M. PRAYER 

What Is prayer? We can pray without moving our 
lips. Prayer Is a gazing at God. It is an elevation of 
the soul. It is properly a cry — the cry of weakness, 
of helplessness — the babbling cry of babes in the dark. 
A parent loves the babbling of children, and so our 
Father who is In Heaven loves the babbling of His 
children. We must pray in submission to, and in union 
with God's will — as slaves, and not as masters. 

Necessity of prayer. Without It no possible sanctl- 
ficatlon; with it, holiness and true wisdom. St. Thomas 
got all his science and wisdom at the foot of the Cross. 
One hour of prayer Is worth years of study. 

Necessity of prayer for the priest. He Is the chief 
of prayer. He must pray himself, and for himself. 
He must pray to make up for the deficiencies of his 
people. The people must learn to pray from his ex- 
ample, and he must pray for his people. 
388 



Notes for Retreats 

Special danger of prayerlessness. We should make 
everything a prayer, and pray for the minutest thing, 
and not be afraid to have familiar intercourse with 
God. 

Prayer most necessary to the priest: officially inter- 
cessor; necessary for his own instruction; necessary 
for his own consolation and support; necessary for his 
own sanctification. 

Breviary — beads. 

MEDITATION. THURSDAY A. M. HUMILITY 

First Point. Humility is not brooding over, lament- 
ing and dissecting one's sins. It is the contrasting our- 
selves with God, and thereby concluding our own noth- 
ingness, and the doing it unconsciously. The greatest 
sinners are the proudest; the holiest people are the 
humblest individuals. Humility of our Lord and 
Mary. Of David. St. Elizabeth. Saints generally. 

Second Point. Necessity to all; eminently necessary 
to a Priest. To save him from becoming specially 
odious to God. To give him weight and efficiency with 
the people. To save himself from everlasting discon- 
tent, unrest and conflict. Humility is a virtue which de- 
mands a life-long struggle to obtain. 

Third Point. Means of humility — reflection, 
prayer of course. But even more, fear and avoidance 
of praise, publicity, appreciation and success. Ac- 
ceptance of failure, contradiction, opposition. Forgive 
and forget. 

Grounds of it. Otherwise our life is a lie; whereas 
we are nothing, we think ourselves something. The 
most odious to God is the proud priest. Humility is 
our greatest possible comfort in life and death. 

CONFERENCE. THURSDAY P. M. " CONFESSIONAL " 
Peculiar power and glory of the Church. Preaching, 
science; confession, art; science deals zvith generals; 

389 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

art with individuals. The apex of the priest's power 
is in the Confessional, where he represents God's purely 
divine power. In the Mass he is Christ's representa- 
tive, who Himself is there present, human and divine, 
priest and victim. In the confessional, it is Christ's 
divinity alone that he represents exclusively. What ^ 
mighty power; what a dangerous one; also what a 
hard task for the city priest. How ought a priest go 
into the confessional? With preparation and prayer. 
Assiduity in confessing. Willingness. No undue at- 
tempt to classify the people. No rigid insisting upon 
particular times. No bidding for confessions of those 
of the reputedly better classes, or those of devotees. 

In the confessional neither all sugar, nor still less 
pure vinegar. 

Get children into the confessional as soon as prac- 
ticable, and as often as practicable. Almost invariably 
a word or two to each penitent, suggested usually by 
confession itself, if not by the time or occasion. Prac- 
tise patience with the ignorant, rude, bad, garrulous. 

Sigillum. Never refer privately or publicly to what 
IS told in the sacred tribunal. In the confessional it is 
the priest's paramount duty to be above and beyond all 
suspicion. How any priest living in the open evidence 
of God's work in a country mission could sacrifice these 
enviable advantages, to be a lackey in the city which 
witnesses chiefly man's destruction of God's work, is 
one of the mysteries of blind, fallen humanity. 

MEDITATION. THURSDAY P. M. CHARITY 

First Point. Distinguish from counterfeits. Charity 
is not liking this and disliking that other. It is not mere 
sympathy for misery and distress, good nature, family 
affection, patriotism, indifference. It is not zeal alone. 

Second Point. "Bond of perfection.'' When we 
fear God we drive out indifference and overcome tepid- 
ity. Then we grow in reflection by gazing on God and 

390 



Notes for Retreats 

finding Him the only Truth, the only Good, the only 
Happiness, the only Beauty, the only Life. Finding 
Him we become earnest, setting our mind and will upon 
God and the things of God — little and great — and 
always, and with our whole being; we are in conse- 
quence naturally led to an apt appreciation of God's 
greatness and our own littleness. We are nothing, 
can do nothing without God. When we arrive at this 
sincere acknowledgment and carry It out In our lives, 
we come to God as our only Truth, Beauty, Goodness, 
Happiness, our only Life - — the only One worthy of all 
our love — and we get to love Him for Himself with- 
out any thought of self, and love Him In all creatures 
as His images, this Is charity. Charity Is thirsting and 
hungering for God as the supreme Good in Himself, 
and for Himself alone, and loving our neighbor as our- 
selves for God's sake. Could we love our mother and 
then spit upon her portrait? How, then, could we 
refuse to love our neighbor who Is God's image ? Char- 
ity includes rejoicing In another's good, as well as 
taking to heart another's evil. We cannot love God 
unless we love our neighbor; vice versa. 

Third Point. Uncharitableness towards one an- 
other, special danger of priests. 

MEDITATION. FRIDAY A. M. SACRIFICE 

First Point. What Is It, what does it imply? Sacri- 
fice is salvation. Christ was salvation, entire salvation, 
and therefore was He entire sacrifice. He became sac- 
rifice when in obedience to His Father He said: " Be- 
hold, I come." I come, therefore, a willing sacrifice, 
a complete sacrifice. He gave Himself up utterly to 
take on the nothingness of man, in the womb of the 
Virgin Mary. This was sacrifice. 

Second Point. Christ was in sacrifice, body and soul, 
and all His life long, until He consummated it on Cal- 
vary, by death. For death is Its completion. All that 

391 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

Stops short of death is incomplete, all may be made 
perfect in death. We must give up ourselves, not a 
part of ourselves, but ourselves; not our possessions, 
not what is external to us, not our bodies alone, but 
our entire selves, and not for awhile, but always. We 
must make our sacrifice complete by accepting death, 
not in the way we would, but in God's way. To God 
alone must we give ourselves. We must have no will 
of our own, but only God's will. 

Third Point. We must use all things, all we have 
and all we are for God. The priest is made for sacri- 
fice. Every day he plunges himself in sacrifice, in order 
to become a sacrifice. Like the iron plunged into the 
fire, and which becomes fire, the priest is plunged daily 
into the Sacred Heart of Jesus, that he may become 
divine fire. 

Necessity of sacrifice. Either for weal or woe eter- 
nal, we must sacrifice ourselves either for Christ or 
satan, either for God or self. Hell means essentially 
to have sacrificed ourselves for no better end, and to 
have no other reward than our miserable selves eter- 
nally. Heaven here on earth means the sacrifice of all 
for God. Then only can we say at the last day in the 
words of St. Paul: I have lived; no, Jesus, Thou hast 
lived in me. Take me now — rather take Thyself now, 
for eternity. We must never forget that the sacrifices 
made for God are far less than those the devil requires, 
and infinitely less than those Christ made for us. Sac- 
rifice may become easy by habit, none the less sacrifice. 
We are priests not merely to oiier Another as sacri- 
ficed, but to become more and more sacrificed ourselves, 
perpetually, totally, irreversibly, in detail. 

CONFERENCE. FRIDAY A. M. " A PRIEST HAS ALL THE 
RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF AN AMERICAN CITIZEN " 

A. Priest gone dow^n far when he begins to think 
much, talk much of, and insist much upon his rights. 

392 



Notes for Retreats 

The only rights worth insisting upon are also one's 
duties. Again, the only rights worth while are such 
that we can never be deprived of them or even become 
maimed in the use of them, by any creature or any 
combinations of creatures. God alone, absolutely 
speaking, has rights; men, priests, have only duties. 

B. Each calling prescribes duties, and these duties 
limit rights everywhere. A priest, then, has the right 
to live, and to be fully and freely a priest, doing his 
work within his own limits, and finding, as far as he 
may wish it, such pleasures or gains as may be com- 
patible with his character and duties. 



CONFERENCE. FRIDAY P. M. PRIEST AS PASTOR 

Society priest as bad as newspaper priest, or political 
priest, or priest making himself the apostle of fads. 

1. Duty of pastor to stay at home. 

2. As far as possible to know his people, therefore 
to visit them — no favorites. 

3. Special visiting of the sick. A list of sick and 
disabled kept and visited regularly, sometimes daily, or 
even oftener. 

4. Constant and kindly remonstrances with the 
wicked and scandalous or indifferent. 

5. Get access to the Protestants when you fairly 
can. Try to make them sure of welcome when they 
come to your churches. 

6. The children — the children — visit the schools. 

7. Some means of gathering people in Church on 
week days. Societies or Evening Prayers or both. 
Hard work, surely. 

Pastors and Assistants should never be absent 
together. 



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Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 



MEDITATION. FRIDAY P. M. EFFECTS OF LIFE BEGIN- 
NING IN THE FEAR OF GOD, AND CULMINATING IN 
SACRIFICE OF SELF 

First Point. Sacrifice makes us dear to God. Wit- 
ness the power of Moses, Elias, David, St. Paul, as 
the result of sacrifice. 

Second Point. Sacrifice renders us more useful to 
the people. Weight with the people, even with non- 
Catholics. Difference between popular priest and 
priest weighty by virtue of sanctity. Who is the priest 
whose word is most valued, who draws most respect? 
Not the orator; it is the priest who proves that he is 
not fond of money, who attends to every duty faith- 
fully, at every personal cost and sacrifice and self- 
denial. 

Third Point. Peace in one's self. Peace, only 
earthly thing worth while, not to be directly sought for 
its own sake. Priest worldly and selfish, can never 
know peace. 

Sacrifice produces what is most valuable on earth — 
peace. 



394 



RETREAT AT THE CATHOLIC UNI- 
VERSITY OF AMERICA 

Washington, D. C. 

INTRODUCTORY 

1. A reason for whatever we deliberately do, — 
Dogma, reason for morals. Retreat being costly, we 
must be impelled to it, and supported during It by suffi- 
cient reasons. 

2. The grace of God presupposed, afterwards all 
In us is the result of the faculty we call attention. 
Rocks, lasting — precipitated from one of the most 
mutable of all things, water. 

Intention, habit, character precipitated from oscil- 
lating attention. 

3. All things conspire against our making due and 
sufficient use of our attention. All have failed more or 
less to make this use. All therefore have need of a re- 
treat, and reason enough for making It. Those who 
have fallen Into grievous sin clearly need it. Those 
also who have been guilty of nothing worse than venial 
sin. And those, finally. If any, who have not fallen 
into any kind of sin. 

4. How shall we make the retreat? First and prin- 
cipally, by virtue of a good and strong will. And this 
will, each one if he has it not, must produce In himself 
by the help of God. These two considerations may 
help : I must come back to God. A retreat alone will 
return me thoroughly to Him. A retreat then must 
be made, and I can never make it more cheaply than 
now. Second, it may be with me now, or never at all. 
After the good will, I regard strict silence as the most 

395 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

necessary means to a fruitful retreat. It will also help 
if we impress our minds with the fact that we are mak- 
ing the retreat not so much for the sake of producing 
in ourselves a present glow of soul, as dispose our- 
selves to live better day by day in the future. 

Finally the retreat may perhaps be a little furthered, 
if we pray for the preacher. 



MORNING MEDITATION. FIRST DAY. DEATH 

First Point. I must die. But what is it to die? To 
quit the body and thereby to quit this world. And how 
much does this imply? No seeing, no hearing, no eat- 
ing or drinking, no sleeping, no reading, no talking, no 
moving from place to place; no novelty, no change or 
variety of any kind, no study, no learning, no human 
affection, esteem or opinion, no industry, activity, pur- 
suit or enjoyment of any kind. 

Picture a man on a small rock alone in mid-ocean — 
blind, deaf, dumb, paralyzed, insensible. Death then 
divides from all, and leaves us merely our thought, and 
what we can derive from our thought. And to death 
I must come. It is the effect of nature. The immutable 
decree of God. 

Second Point. I can die no more than once. In one- 
ness are value, sublimity, awfulness — oneness gives 
dignity, worth, solemnity to the smallest thing. 

Third Point. All life ought to be, and if right, life 
must be a preparation for our one, inevitable death. 

Resolution. Besides the reminders of death, through 
the wisdom and mercy of God, meeting more or 
less always and ever}^where, and besides such recog- 
nition of death as I shall try to make all along the 
day, I shall find somewhere in the day's routine a few 
minutes to be given solely to the endeavor to make 
death ever more and more to myself the awful all- 
determining fact It in Itself Is. 



Notes for Retreats 



FIRST DAY. MORNING CONFERENCE. DANGER OF THE 
PRIEST 

Formalism. Danger everywhere. Danger from 
everything, and danger all the time. The Priest subject 
to peculiar dangers. The glow and fervor of the 
young Priest just ordained. How he falls Into oiEcIal- 
ism. Cause, familiarity with the small outer signs and 
exponents of divine things, without consideration of 
the things themselves. 

Defense. — Regularity, meditation, preparation for 
all greater functions. Avoidance of those practising 
and inculcating formalism. 

FIRST DAY. AFTERNOON MEDITATION. FIRST DUTY OF 
A PRIEST 

Prayer, — what it means. 

First Point. Of prayer to the individual; to the 
Church in general; why necessary; always In our 
power; to Impregnate us more and more with the first 
truth of all our existence In God and absolute depen- 
dence upon God. It transforms and strengthens us 
more than anything else we do or can do. 

Second Point. The sublimity of prayer. 

Third Point. The comfort of prayer. In It alone 
we find the first and most imperative need of our 
nature, companionship. 

Resolutions. My Breviary. My beads. My prep- 
aration for and thanksgiving after Mass shall be made 
genuine prayer. Besides I will aim at the habit of 
uniting exterior work with interior recollection and 
prayer. 

SECOND DAY. MORNING MEDITATION. JUDGMENT 

First Point. Parties to the judgment. God and I. 
God's eternity, my short span. God's vastncss and Im- 

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Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

menslty, my littleness and narrowness. God's infinite 
knowledge and wisdom, my ignorance and folly. 
God's splendor and beauty, myself scarred, marred, 
polluted. God's sovereignty and sufficiency. My de- 
pendence and nothingness. God's infinite power, my 
absolute helplessness in His hands. God's justice. His 
unbounded infinite hatred of sin, myself saturated with 
evil. From top to bottom, from circumference to in- 
most center, defiled, leprous, loathsome even to myself. 
God's awful immutability, not to be cozened, flattered, 
bribed, intimidated or evaded; myself with such mul- 
tiplex and overwhelming need of a judge in some way 
to be propitiated or deluded. God's goodness, speak- 
ing from the wounds of Christ and from the Taber- 
nacle, and is seen in so many Absolutions and Com- 
munions; my own indomitable perversity, my incurable 
ingratitude, endless insult and outrage. I alone under 
the eyes, in the face of, in immediate contact with such 
a God. No friends, no witnesses, no counsel to plead, 
no forgetfulness, no excuses left, though once so end- 
less; no false conscience remaining, no worse examples 
of others to keep me in countenance, no maxims and 
sentiments, customs and uses of the world to justify; 
myself in all nakedness and just as in myself I am, and 
have been before God, to hear and know what He 
thinks of me, and means to do with me. 

Second Point. Matter of the judgment: sins I re- 
member, sins I have forgotten, sins I recognized as 
such, sins I would excuse and justify, against the sup- 
pressed, smothered sense that I was cheating myself; 
sins that I knew, sins that I ought to have known and 
might have known, but criminally failed to detect. Sins 
abandoned, yet never really repented of. Sins I actu- 
ally committed and sins I had the disposition to com- 
mit, and under temptation and with opportunity would 
have committed. Sins of omission and sins of commis- 
sion. Sins into which I led others. Positive acts and 
standing deficiencies. Finally, I shall be judged not 



Notes for Retreats 

merely for sins done, but for good spoiled In the 
doing. 

Third Point. I shall be judged, not only fully, but 
finally, irreversibly, forever. 

Resolutions, i. To try to know myself better as the 
only way of lessening my confusion under the judgment 
of God, and of mitigating the Immutable sentence then 
to issue. 

2. I determine that henceforth I shall make as little 
as I can of man's judgment. 

SECOND DAY. MORNING CONFERENCE. SECOND DAN- 
GER OF THE PRIEST. SELF-SUFFICIENCY 

Pride the primal sin and presupposed more or less 
by every other sin. Many forms, under many dis- 
guises and bearing many names; one of these names, 
self-sufficiency. And self-sufficiency a vice of Priests and 
very specially of young Priests. Methodist preachers 
and young Priests. 

Describe what Is meant by self-sufficiency. 

Maxim much in the mouth of the self-sufficient 
Priest: "A Priest is entitled to live as a gentleman." 
Show absurdity of maxim as meaning just whatever 
one pleases, and in a Priest's mouth almost never mean- 
ing anything true or good. 

Causes of sacerdotal self-sufficiency. 

1. Contrast between long and almost total repres- 
sion and almost absolute liberty to do as one pleases — 
in connection with the puppy devotion heretofore 
mentioned. 

2. Avoidance of one's elders and superiors, and 
association almost exclusively with inferiors and 
toadies, and specially with women pious or otherwise. 

3. Veneration and obedience of the faithful, and 
being without conflict and contest most of the time 
with one's equals or superiors. 

4. Failure to contemplate assiduously one's trcmcn- 

399 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

dous responsibilities, and the awful judgment awaiting 
him and to overtake him, no one knoweth how soon, 
and certainly much sooner than one will be sufficiently 
prepared for. 

Care. i. Clear sense of danger, and acceptance if 
not quest of failures, mortifications and humiliations. 

2. Much converse with living superiors, and con- 
tinual intercourse with the gigantic dead. 

3. Much meditation. 



SECOND DAY. EVENING MEDITATION. SECOND DUTY 
OF THE PRIEST. EDIFICATION 

First Point. Priest more than secundus Christus. 
Christus Ipse. 

Second Point. Like Christ, then, the Priest must in 
the main edify by his private life more than by his pub- 
lic functions. 

Third Point. Virtues of Christ which reproduced 
in the Priest most specially edify. 

A. Love of retirement and obscurity. 

B. Love and practice of private prayer. 

C. Meekness under provocation, and thorough for- 
giveness of injuries, real or imagined. 

D. Simplicity and poverty. 

E. Tenderness towards the poor and ignorant, and 
no undue complaisance towards, or fondness for the 
rich. Politeness. 

F. An evident preference of duty, and the welfare 
of souls. 

Resolutions, i. To contemplate often the awful- 
ness of my character and position as the vehicle of 
Christ, and Christ in a true sense Himself. 

2. To consider much the dreadful hypocrisy of al- 
ways holding up to the people the example of Christ, 
while never really trying to copy It myself. 
400 



Notes for Retreats 

THIRD DAY. MORNING MEDITATION. HELL 

Short answer to objections. I Imperatively need It, 
and without It certainly should never qualify myself 
for Heaven, as a Catholic understands Heaven. And 
the world In general needs It, for It Is being proven 
that nothing less will restrain men from crimes — In 
the outcome destructive of all society. 

Elements of Hell already existing and operating. 

First Point. The capability of pain residing In the 
body almost Infinite In multiplicity and Intensity. 

Second Point. The mind's capabilities: recon- 
structed memory, fully Illuminated intelligence and 
thoroughly rectified conscience. Being eternally cut in 
two — will. Irrevocably at war with intellect and 
conscience. 

Third Point. Anticipation. Hopelessness. Poena 
damni. 

Resolutions. A. Not to be high minded but to fear. 

B. To make meditation at least once a month, and 
if once a week so much the better, upon Hell. 

C. To preach Hell faithfully but with the greatest 
lowliness, and making it evident to the people that to 
the core, I feel and fear what I preach. 

D. Hell being so av/ful, intolerable, to keep al- 
ways as far as I can from it. 

THIRD DAY. MORNING CONFERENCE. THIRD DANGER 
OF THE PRIEST. ENVY AND JEALOUSY AND WHAT 
COME OF THEM 

Beauty and ferocity and pitilessness of nature. 
Beauty and ugliness of human nature. The ugliest 
and most absurd thing in it is envy and jealousy. 
Describe fact and consequences. Assign cause. 

A. " Two of a trade, etc." 

B. Sometimes because jealousy cloaks itself under 
the name and pretence of zeal. 

401 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

C. Because he is so little In contact with superiors 
or equals. 

D. Primal cause, want of love to Christ and to 
souls. 

Care. Much consideration of the folly, misery 
and maliciousness of env^y. 

Custody of one's own tongue and discouragement of 
the careless or evil tongues of other people. 

Assiduous contemplation of the fact that all is of 
God, and for God. 



THIRD DAY. AFTERNOON MEDITATION. THIRD GREAT 
DUTY OF THE PRIEST. INSTRUCTION 

First Point. Dire need of Instruction on the part of 
Catholics and Protestants, young and old, rich and 
poor, learned and unlearned. 

Second Point. How shall I render myself competent 
to instruct w^ith effect? 

Third Point. Manner of Instruction In the pulpit. 
In the Confessional. In the school. Why not also in 
pastoral visiting? 

Resolut'wjis. A. I will carefully prepare all instruc- 
tions, public or private. 

B. I will never speak save with distinct intention, 
before earnestly commended to God, of fixing in the 
hearts of the people some truth or truths to myself ap- 
plied, and of myself recognized as of the highest mo- 
ment. I will preach the Gospel of Christ and not 
patriotism, political economy or sociology, or burning 
questions. All really important questions are no more 
burning now than they were on the day Adam was 
expelled from Eden. 

FOURTH DAY. MORNING MEDITATION. HEAVEN 

First Point. What Is Heaven? The full, final, irre- 
versible rest of the whole man. 
402 



Notes for Retreats 

I. Condition of rest, extinguishment forever of all 
ignorances, perplexities, uncertainties, fears, regrets. 
The being eternally raised above toil, pain, responsi- 
bility. The removal once for all of need, deficiency, 
disability of every kind. The being made superior to 
oscillation, temptation and possibility of sin. Finally 
the being forever done with most of what we now call 
pleasure. 

Second Point. Second element of rest. The satis- 
faction fully of the intellect in knowing absolutely all 
to be known. In knowing it, too, not by inference, not 
by signs and effects, not according to its surface and its 
exterior aspects, not intermittently, remembering and 
forgetting. But knowing it in itself to the core through 
and through, and knowing it always in the same way, 
without excursion or succession of mind, knowing it 
even better than we now know the primal and most 
self-evident axioms, such as a thing cannot at once be, 
and not be. A square remaining a square cannot be- 
come a circle, nor the part ever equal the whole. This 
being the knowledge of Heaven we see that even our 
present knowledge of God is really scarcely worthy 
of the name. It is rather ignorance of God patiently 
borne, and as thus endured rewarded hereafter with 
real knowledge. For what know we or what can we 
know of even the very first thing we ascribe to God, to 
wit, His absolute oneness? And so with everything 
else we ascribe to God. It is at bottom merely the say- 
ing In one or another way that while we know He Is, 
yet we know not and now cannot know what or how 
He Is. And even His " is," is so infinitely above and 
apart from all other " ises," that we are far from 
understanding fully what is meant when we ascribe to 
Him simple being and nothing more. 

Third Point. The satisfaction of the will. The per- 
fect and Indefeasible love of God and all His creatures 
(aye, the love of the lost Angels and of eternally ship- 
wrecked men). Love not as now coming and going, 

403 



Rt. Rev, A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

active or inactive; but no more at all habit or potentia, 
forever wholly act, and act fully perfect. 

Resolutions. A. To render myself more and more 
profoundly and ineffaceably convinced that but tvvo 
things are worth while, or rather two aspects of the 
same thing, to wit, safety and rest, and that these two 
are on earth, absolutely — essentially impossible. 

B. To subdue more and more my pride in keeping 
myself ever clearly reminded that my highest wisdom 
on earth consists not so much in knowing as in freeing 
myself further and ever further of the imagination, 
that I know or can know; and thus making room in 
myself for the knowledge to come hereafter. 

C. To remember that as on the one hand my work 
is rather to vacate my mind of the delusion that I know, 
so on the other, my task is to free my will from all 
preoccupations, preferences, biases, entanglements, that 
being empty I may not so much love God now, as be 
able to hunger and thirst for the love to come hereafter. 

FOURTH DAY. MORNING CONFERENCE. FOURTH 
DANGER OF THE PRIEST. SENSUALITY 

Extremes meet. The reaction and recoil from the 
sublimity of the supernatural is apt to be towards the 
lowest and basest phase of the natural. Various forms 
of sensuality. Describe some of them; of the table, of 
dress, of furniture, of curiosity, of idleness, gadding 
and gossiping, of games and amusements, of reading, 
fast horses, horse racing and theater going. 

Causes. A. The trend itself of the times, which dig- 
nifies or more and more elaborates sensuality with the 
name progress, civilization and makes it rather vir- 
tue and grace, than ugliness, weakness and vice. 

B. Confounding orthodoxy with faith. 

Care. Mortification, not so much voluntarily pro- 
cured as voluntarily accepted and embraced, when 
divinely provided. 

404 



Notes for Retreats 



FOURTH DAY. AFTERNOON MEDITATION. FOURTH 
DUTY OF THE PRIEST. SACRIFICE 

Offers and receives Christ as a sacrifice so often — 
to be himself in and with Christ rendered a sacrifice. 

First Point. Necessity of self-sacrifice; we may de- 
termine what shall be our good, but not the price to be 
paid for this good. We may choose the end and effect 
unto and for which we shall be crucified, but crucified 
we must be. 

Second Point. Details of the sacrifice. Time. Lib- 
erty, ease and leisure. Society. Publicity. Study. 
Devotion itself occasionally. Novelty and variety. 
Regularity, sometimes. Health. Life. 

Third Point. Reward of sacrifice. Peace, if the 
sacrifice be willing and thorough. 

Resolutions. A. Never to say Mass save with the 
clear and prominent intention, that I may thereby more 
come to know, and reflect, Christ as sacrificed. 

B. To keep ever on the watch to make enough of 
the truth that I must for Christ, and His people, sacri- 
fice even the true, the good and the beautiful, as well 
as the false, the evil and the ugly. 

C. To make my sacrifice of self in one or another 
way and degree, not intermittent but incessant, 

FIFTH DAY. MORNING MEDITATION. 
PERSEVERANCE 

It alone proves and crowns all. True nature of per- 
severance. Reason why perseverance alone is crowned. 

First Point. I must persevere, or as well, or better, 
not begin. 

Second Point. Everything against perseverance 
within and without. 

Third Point. Hence great, multiplex and irremov- 
able danger of not persevering. 
405 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

Resolutions. A. To try to produce in myself more 
and more of that rational, godly fear which is begin- 
ning in the sense of the ever remaining foundation upon 
which rests all the structure of wisdom, and without 
which the whole building collapses. 

B. To pray at least in short interior aspirations 
many times a day for perseverance. 

C. Never to permit myself to be discouraged, nor 
to hide myself from God, no matter what my falls. 



406 



RETREAT AT ST. CHARLES' COLLEGE 

INTRODUCTORY MEDITATION, WEDNESDAY, 
SEPTEMBER 25. THE JUDGMENT 

FIRST Point. In contact with the majesty and power 
of God. 
Second Point. In contact with the truth and justice 
of God. 

Third Point. In contact with the beauty and good- 
ness of God. 

Resolution. To be more faithful in trying to be 
habitually in the presence and company of God. 

Instruction, A.M. First duty of youth: obedience, 
docility. 

Nature of obedience includes judgment and will. 
Advantages : safety, merit, peace. 

Instruction, p. M. First danger of youth : self-confi- 
dence. Why? Ignorance, imagination in place of ex- 
perience. Effects: censoriousness. Remedy: much 
consideration of the littleness of the creature, and our 
inability to initiate or complete anything of ourselves. 

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26. MEDITATION, A.M. MAT- 
TER OF JUDGMENT 

First Point. Sins forgotten. Second Point. Sins 
remembered, but not duly estimated, specially sins of 
omission. Third Point. Good things spoiled. 

Resolution. More earnestness and diligence in ex- 
amination of conscience. 

Instruction, A. M. Second duty: to discover and cor- 
rect evil propensities, specially those most prcdomliiat- 
407 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

Ing; (i) to discover them; (2) to oppose them. Ad- 
vantages of undertaking this work now: ( i ) evil pro- 
pensities will not be acquired; (2) present ones, now 
much more easily rooted out. 

Instruction, P.M. Second danger: illusion. i. 
What is it? With at least the capability of recogniz- 
ing our error regarding as fact and truth some picture 
of what we wish to be the case. 2. All more or less 
under illusion. 3. Difference between illusions of the 
old and the young. 4. Particular illusions of the 
young as to length and certainty of life. As to the 
value of the individual. As to exemption from inev- 
itable penalty. As to quick, easy, thorough success. 
Remedy: think, and refuse to dream instead. 

SEPTEMBER 27. MEDITATION, A. M. MANNER OF 
JUDGMENT 

First Point. Each single soul all alone with God. 
Second Point. Memory fully reconstructed. Third 
Point. With intellect disabused and conscience thor- 
oughly rectified. Resolution: to set myself against my 
innate propensity to excuse and justify myself. 

Instruction^ A. M. Third duty of the young to acquire 
right habits. What is habit? Strangeness of habit — 
implies a substance prior to intellect and will and com- 
prehending both; it implies, too, on one hand, Heaven; 
on the other. Hell. Necessity therefore of beginning 
early to acquire good habits. Habits in particular to 
be acquired: regularity, thoughtfulness, silence, prayer- 
fulness. 

Instruction, P. M. Third danger of the young. Pro- 
crastination. All are prone to procrastination. The 
young specially thus disposed. Why? Because they 
promise themselves so much as to the future. Because 
their defects are not yet so ugly, so obstinate or so 
gravely and immediately threatening. Reasons against 
procrastination : work must be done, most cheaply done 
408 



Notes for Retreats 

now. If postponed more hardly done, probably never 
done at all. 

SEPTEMBER 28. MEDITATION, A. M. 

First Point. Last Judgment. Second Point. Per- 
fect judgment. Third Point. Irreversible, eternal 
judgment. 

Resolution, To distrust myself and to make little 
of what others seem to think of me. 

Instruction, A. M. Fourth duty of the young. To 
discover and choose each his proper vocation. Each 
thing no matter how small, individual, with its own 
peculiar office. This follows from God's knowledge 
of each; nothing therefore can be perfectly lost. It 
can merely descend to a lower place and use. All mis- 
chief, something out of place; worst mischief of all, 
man out of place in the priesthood. But must not sup- 
pose vocation to priesthood a thing ready made. How 
to discover whether we are capable of this vocation. 

Instruction, P. M. Fourth danger of youth. Substi- 
tuting fancy for fact. Difference between fancy and 
Imagination. Never too much use of imagination, al- 
ways too much of fancy. How and why we deceive 
ourselves with fancies instead of fact. All do it more 
or less, especially the young; some encourage them to 
do it. Certain reading tends to this end. Certain 
company has the same effect. But mostly the habit of 
day dreaming. Let us be men, not cowards, shirking 
the truth at such bitter cost in the end. 

V^EDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25. SACRAMENT OF PENANCE 

Ratio sacramentorum in genere. i. Gratia. Pres- 
ence, action and effect of God immediately and solely. 
2. This presence, action and effect necessarily Incog- 
nizable by us. Hence necessity of sign visible. 3. 
God's action in Itself always one and the same, but pro- 
ducing many and different effects, according to the dh- 
409 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

positions and needs of the creature. Our needs many, 
hence many Sacraments. Besides, we forget. Hence 
Sacraments many and some of them many times given. 
One standing need: healing of the soul. Answering to 
this Sacrament of Penance, only Sacrament with seem- 
ingly ugly name — not really ugly, however, (i) Be- 
cause penance voluntary. (2) Because of God. (3) 
Because so blessed in its effects. 

THURSDAY, 26. BEFORE CONFESSION 

What ought to move us to confession? Not human 
respect, not mere compliance with established routine. 
Not the wish for purely temporary relief and comfort. 
Not merely and solely the desire to be forgiven our past 
sins, but with this even more, the will to cure our 
defects. 

How to prepare. First defect, insufficient examina- 
tion, making more of things extraordinary than of 
things habitual. Second defect, too little time to con- 
trition — mistakes as to contrition itself. Motives to 
it, supernatural. Test of it, the genuine will to try to 
do better. 

FRIDAY, 27. IN CONFESSION 

Why must we confess? i. As fitting penance and 
sometimes grIe\"ous penance. 2. As easiest, quickest 
and most certain way of ridding ourselves of sin. 3. 
That judge may determine, and doctor apply remedies. 
4. That we may thereby the better see and know our- 
selves. The confession itself must be : i. Humble. 2. 
Sincere. 3. Full, but not scrupulous, nor going Into 
unnecessary detail. 

SATURDAY, 28. AFTER CONFESSION 

First of all. Thanksgiving. 2. Saying or doing of 
penance. 3. Renewal of resolutions particularly as to 
voluntary occasions of sin. 4. When resolutions have 
been forgotten or contradicted. 
410 



Notes for Retreats 

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 29. MEDITATION, A. M. 

First Point. What it is to relapse. Second Point. 
The folly and crime of thus relapsing. Third Point. 
The mischief and danger of same. 

Resolution. I will try to keep my confidence in 
God's power and mercy, and will return always to Him. 

INSTRUCTION AT HIGH MASS. SORROWS OF MARY 

First, Perpetual. 2. Singularly intense, as for the 
best of sons. As for her God in this Son outraged. 
These sorrows upon her Son and her God occasioned 
by the very children for whom she sacrifices her Son. 
The core of the sorrow; the worse than uselessness as 
regards so many of Christ's sufferings and her own 
sorrows. 3. Children of such a Father and Mother, 
what should we expect, what should we desire? 



411 



RETREAT AT ST. MATTHEWS 

Washixgtox. D. C. 
March lO. After noc^n 

INTRODUCTORY 

TF one be quite certain that all by himself and solely 
^ of himself he can execute the purpose he enter- 
tains, he need not make known that purpose to others. 
Indeed in many cases the manifestation of a purpose 
such as I have mentioned would be more than merely 
unnecessar)-. /. e., it might occasion opposition and pro- 
voke obstacle. But when the end in view is such that it 
cannot be reached save through the intelligent and will- 
ing cooperation of others, then of necessity* it must be to 
them more or less distinctly revealed. And the more 
fully and clearly must they know what is contemplated 
when all proposed is to be done by them and for them, 
and when the part of the leader in the transaction afoot 
is not and cannot be more than simply to point out 
to his followers something with which each of them 
is most momentously concerned, and something, too, 
which one cannot do for another, but which each must 
for himself undertake and execute or else eternally 
groan and wail under intolerable and irreversible pen- 
alties. And this is precisely our case. Were I going 
to make a retreat for myself I need not reveal to any 
one my purpose itself, and still less the particular means 
and methods whereby I meant and hoped to execute 
that purpose. But the retreat now to be made is to be 
made through as well as for you, and each of you must 
make it of himself, as well as for himself. I cannot 
directly and immediately do anything whatever in be- 



Notes for Retreats 

half of the retreat. I am here simply to stimulate each 
of you if I can, to undertake and fulfil what a genuine 
retreat implies and demands. It is necessary, then, that 
I state the one proximate principal end towards which 
the whole retreat should be directed. I say proximate 
end, observe. 

Ultimate end of retreat as of everything else, sal- 
vation. Proximate, distinctive end of retreat. To ob- 
viate that which is most universally and necessarily 
fatal to the soul, it is not sin proper, not ignorance, not 
temptation, nor obstacle or hardship, but simply in- 
difference, want of earnestness, singleness, whole- 
heartedness as to procuring our salvation. Really, if 
not nominally, valuing some other things more than 
we value our salvation. 

This retreat then will throughout aim to extinguish 
indifference and produce in us due concern as to the 
salvation of our souls. Each must make his own rule 
for the retreat. Above all each must pray for a thor- 
oughly good will to make the most of this grace and 
this opportunity. 

MARCH II, A. M. 

We shall become full, earnest, ardent, steadfast as 
to our salvation If we duly recognize the value of the 
soul. And that we may see the worth of the soul we 
shall begin with considering it In itself. 

A. Its singleness, uniqueness, individuality. And 
all things valuable as they possess or approach single- 
ness. God, the truth, the Church, life, death, office, 
position, wealth. 

B. Sovereignty of the soul, actually owning and 
capable of controlling all things even of thwarting its 
Creator and Redeemer. And Its exhaustlcss power of 
knowing and of loving. 

C. Immortality of the soul. 

D. How God values each human soul, — the good 
Angels, Martyrs and Saints generally. 

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Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

E. How satan esteems the soul. What the crime 
of even gratuitously risking the soul? 

MARCH II, p. M. 

A. From the singleness, individuality of the soul 
it follows of necessity that each soul must, under God 
and with the help of God, work out its own salvation. 
No delegation of the work is possible. It cannot be 
so committed even to God that we leave all to Him, 
while ourselves making no genuine or sustained effort. 

a. The greatness of the work in itself and on ac- 
count of arrearages. 

B. Not only must each particular soul work out 
its own salvation, but it cannot effect this salvation save 
as pursuing it at all costs, and as the one sovereign 
end to which all other ends are subject and subsidiary. 
— The soul not divisible, wholly saved or entirely lost. 

C. Such a pursuit of salvation must be maintained 
to the end. 

D. And with the genuine, ever present, ever influ- 
ential fear of sooner or later faltering and falling, 
somewhere short of the line beyond which only is safety 
assured. 

MARCH 12, A. M. 

A. One soul; under God this one soul, the one only 
savior of itself. One time and opportunity^ of salva- 
tion, — the present life. 

B. This no more than suflicient when longest and 
best used. 

C. This time and opportunity^ going: incessantly. 

D. So much of it alre^.Hy gone and perhaps rather 
to our guilt and danger than to our benefit. 

E. What is left may be so much less than we expect. 
Surely time to end our procrastination. 

MARCH 12, P. M. 

The place, etc., in which and the conditions under 
which each must effect his own salvation. 
414 



Notes for Retreats 

A. We being what we are, In the world without us, 
all things, without exception, will oppose our salvation 
and combine to effect our ruin. Not that there Is any 
exterior thing In and of Itself at all amiss. But we are 
Interiorly fools and sinners, and It Is the dire curse of 
sin, that It perverts and misapplies everything — the 
best as well as the worst. 

Under a heaven smiling, wooing, caressing or frown- 
ing, threatening, pinching. In plenty or under poverty. 
In leisure or under toll. In public or private, esteemed, 
and In honor, or despised and disliked, known to many 
or few. From the example of the good and that of the 
evil. 

B. The world within Is greater and more dangerous 
than the world without, i. From our evil propensities. 
2. Our delusions and self-decelvlngs. 3. Our fickleness 
and Inconstancy. 4. From the very truth Itself, and 
from our own virtues. Envy and censorlousness. 
What safety for us? None on earth anywhere or any- 
thing. And none will be found elsewhere, save at the 
cost here and now of ceaseless fear and never-falling 
watchfulness. 

MARCH 13, A. M. HELL 

If In spite of all the reasons to the contrary we ne- 
glect to render ourselves sovereignly earnest and single- 
hearted as to our salvation; If therefore we run Into 
great excesses and fall Into gross vices; If on the 
contrary, something counting for less than nothing with 
God keep us from such vices and excesses, but leave 
us accustomed to value all sorts of things more than 
God, and to live rather for any and every end than for 
our own salvation, — then, what? Hell. Is there a 
hell? Most do not now believe that there Is. -But 
neither do they recognize death or many other facts, 
which, nevertheless, exist and In due time assert and 
revenge themselves. 

Two ways of contemplating Hell: i. As a purely 

415 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

positive and supernaturally revealed penalty. This no 
doubt the better way. 2. As the necessary consequence 
causes, forces and tendencies now in operation under 
our eyes — one thing only presupposed and derived 
from revelation, /. e.^ the irreversibleness after death 
of our moral status. And even this reason alone many 
suspect as probable, if not able to demonstrate as 
certain. 

A. Leave out all coming of a body thoroughly, in- 
curably and eternally disordered in every part, and as 
to every function. 

B. The companionship of all lost souls and worse 
devils. 

C. Severance from all present enjoyments, pursuits, 
distractions. 

D. Severance from God and the good. 

E. Illumination of the mind, restoration of memory. 

F. Anticipation, hopelessness, eternity. 

MARCH 13, P.M. HEAVEN 

If by the help of God and the aid of Mary and the 
Saints we become, and till the end remain thoroughly 
in earnest as to the salvation of the soul; if falling, we 
rise, if failing, we begin afresh, if erring, we turn back 
to the right way; if sinning, as sometimes we shall sin, 
we repent, confess, renew our resolutions, resume our 
efforts, and maintain a sometimes temporarily impaired, 
but never lost, trust in God, and determination to hold 
fast to Him as our only sufficient end — what? 
Heaven. Purgatory before, no doubt, but Heaven 
afterwards. And Purgatory itself far better than what 
now is — why? And what is Heaven? Rest. And 
Rest what? 

A. Freedom from pain, toil, responsibility, danger, 
conflict, temptation, fear, desire, sin. 

B. But this is negative rest. What is rest positively? 
I. Satisfaction of the body, everything fully answering 

416 



Notes for Retreats 

to It as It then will be. 2. Indefeasible contentment 
and filling up to the utmost of the soul. 3. As to know- 
ing and the will to be known. 4. As to loving and the 
hungering and thirsting to be loved. 

MARCH 14. FINAL 

Whatever our earnestness and concern now, they 
win not last unless we foresee and provide the means 
whereby they are to be maintained and Increased. And 
I may put these means In one word: stop drifting, stop 
living at random; and doing well, If doing It at all, 
rather by accident than upon principle and according 
to system. 

A. Each therefore must make for himself a rule : as 
to prayer In private; meditation; self-examination. 
Good reading and the reverse. As to retiring and ris- 
ing. Then as to occasions of sin. As to keeping Sun- 
days, hearing Mass, making confession, communicating. 



417 



V 

NOTES FOR THE THREE HOURS' 
AGONY 

FOUND IN THE BISHOP'S OWN HANDWRITING 

Given on Good Friday of various years in St. 
Peter's Cathedral, Wilmington, Del. 



THREE HOURS' PRAYER 

GOOD FRIDAY, MARCH 23, I 894 

Preached at St, Peter's Cathedral. 

PASSION TYPIFIED AND PREDICTED IN TABLEAUX 
FROM OLD TESTAMENT 

First Tableau 

Cain and Abel 

/COMPOSITION of place. Gates of garden of 
^ Eden. 

1. Two brothers; the elder the murderer. 

2. Motive to the murder: simple hatred of the 
greater wisdom and goodness of the younger brother. 

3. Cain's sacrifice, a denial virtually of the fall and 
guilt of the human race; so the Jews. Abel's confes- 
sion of fall and of the need of a sufficient sacrifice and 
atonement; the quarrel between the Jews and Christ, 
the same. 

4. The Instrument of the murder — wood, accord- 
ing to tradition. 

5. Conduct of Cain when accused, that of the Jews. 

6. Punishment of Cain and that of the Jews the 
same. 

In this tableau the thing most prominently presented 
is the extreme wickedness of the human heart, slaying 
God merely as God and simply for His goodness. And 
properly in the beginning the dreadfulness of the dis- 
ease is shown, that thereby we may see the need of and 
sufficiently desire and seek the only remedy. Meditate 
on the extreme malice and dreadfulness of sin as hating 
God merely as God and for the very things supremely 
entitling Him to our adoration. 
421 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

Second Tableau 
Abraham and Isaac 

Composition of place. A wide plain. In the far 
distance a mountain dimly defined against the sky; 
crossing the plain towards the mountain a small cara- 
van of four. In front an old man with head drooping, 
eyes on the ground and filled with unutterable sadness. 
The whole mien and countenance expressive of the 
deepest grief. At his side not a child but another man, 
unworn by toil, untarnished by sorrow, with all the 
vigor, alertness, brightness, smoothness and beauty of 
youth, as yet a stranger to deep-lasting grief or long 
and severe conflict. In the rear, following, two ser- 
vants carrying wood and fire, bonds and the sacrificial 
knife. 

1. Contrast this tableau with the first. There, all 
darkness and wickedness and its punishment. Here, 
only faith, obedience, sacrifice and their reward; three 
days going to the mountain — three periods before 
Christ. 

2. Abraham typifies the Eternal Father, willingly 
for us yielding up His Son; stands also for the enlight- 
ened of the Jewish nation, — Joseph, Mary, Zacharias, 
Elizabeth, Simeon and Anna and such, all along the 
ages. 

3. The willingness of Isaac typifying Christ's lay- 
ing down His Life of Himself. 

4. Willingness to die but not actually dying, as rep- 
resenting the divinity of Christ, w^hich could not be 
slain. Isaac returned home unharmed from Mt. 
Moriah. So the divinity of Christ returned untouched 
to Heaven. 

5. The ram sacrificed; first caught by his horns. In 
brambles. Horns, dignity, power; brambles, sin. 
Christ taken through His very beauties and perfections 
and according to His flesh slain. 

422 



Notes for the Three Hours' Agony 

6. The mother Sara apparently ignorant; the Jew- 
ish church ignorant. 

7. Promise of universal salvation. 

Meditate on the infinite goodness of God, and the 
necessity of blind trust in and obedience to Him. 

Third Tableau 
Joseph and his Brethren 

Composition of place. Again a wide plain on 
every side, losing itself in the distance. In the center 
and foreground a grove of large trees, under these 
trees the great tent of the Master; near it smaller tents 
of the servants. An old man wrinkled and worn, with 
a long white beard far down his breast, sitting in the 
open door of the great tent. He gazes, shading his 
eyes, into the distance, and smiles with gladness as he 
discovers far-off men approaching; they arrive down- 
cast with every simulation of great sorrow. They hold 
up before the old man, Jacob, a torn and bloody gar- 
ment, saying, " this we have found," etc., etc. 

1. Again two brothers: Joseph and Benjamin, — 
Joseph the elder, the remnant of the Jews adhering 
to Christ and identified with Christ. Benjamin the 
younger — the Gentiles — other ten only half brothers 
to Joseph, as of another mother, so the body of the 
Jewish nation, half brothers of Christ, only akin to 
Him according to the flesh indeed, but totally estranged 
from Him according to the spirit. 

2. Motive to the crime: envy of the greater wis- 
dom and greater dearness to his father on the part of 
Joseph. 

3. Immediate occasion of the outbreak of this envy; 
revelations of Joseph as to his future dif2;nity. 

4. Casting into the pit and the drawing; burial and 
resurrection of Christ. 

5. Selling to Madianites for a little silver. For the 
sake of small temporal interests the Jews gave up 

423 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

Christ to the Gentiles. The Madianltes sold him to 
Putiphar; first kind; then unjust; the Roman Em- 
perors as Pagans. Pharaoh the same. Christians. 

6. Joseph comes to rule; feeds the world; wins 
again his brethren. 

Meditate on the universality and dreadfulness of the 
particular sin of envy, as alienating from one another, 
those who ought to be to each other nearest and dearest. 

Fourth Tableau 
Brazen Serpent in Wilderness 

Composition of place. A desert, treeless, waterless; 
long sweeps of bare sand, here smooth, there rising Into 
rounded swells, broken in places by ledges and protu- 
berances of bald rock, crossed by dry winds; on one 
hand in the distance, the purple mountains of Arabia; 
on the other the red hills of Edom and Moab, and 
showing above them In their rear the blue ridges of 
Lebanon; on the sand the tabernacle, about it on Its 
four sides, stretching away the many tents of the twelve 
tribes; three tribes encamped on each side of the taber- 
nacle, — the many people: men, women and children 
massed together here and there, all talking, gesticulat- 
ing, angrily blaspheming God and Moses. But these 
mobs suddenly begin to scatter, their anger becomes 
fear and their blasphemies are turned into shrieks of 
pain. The serpents are among them on all hands, dart- 
ing to and fro, hissing, striking and producing in 
whomsoever they strike burning fever and speedy 
death. The serpents found in every place, and many 
people already dead; more dying, and all in danger; 
the multitudes terrified and repentant resort to Moses 
for rescue, and he in obedience to God erects upon a 
high staff, standing also upon an eminence so as to be 
visible to every part of the camp, an Image in brass of 
a serpent; that all bitten, In faith and obedience, gaz- 
ing upon this brazen serpent may find healing. 
424 



Notes for the Three Hours' Agony 

1. The serpent, sin. The brazen serpent, likeness 
of sin. 

2. The serpent dead, Christ as crucified and dead 
heals. 

3. Lifted high by the wood. The cross, highest 
thing In the world. 

4. Mere gazing at the dead serpent produced heal- 
ing. Gazing enough at Christ crucified, the means to 
all wisdom and sanctity. 

Meditate on our Ingratitude towards, and distrust 
of God and rebellion out and out, so often against Him. 

Fifth Tableau 
Samson 

Composition of place. An Immense circular build- 
ing. The roof runs to a point In the center and there 
rests upon and Is upheld by two great columns extend- 
ing from the floor to the apex of the roof. All round 
the building, even up to the starting place of the roof Is 
tier above tier of seats. And these seats are all filled 
with the men, women and children, the noble and the 
wealthy of the Philistine. In the vacant space In the 
center and round about the columns are densely packed, 
many of the populace of the same nation. Even from 
the roof In which there are openings, many heads are 
pressed close together, and are looking down Into the 
temple. Throughout all the vast assembly there Is the 
hush of expectation. All eyes are turned towards a 
door from which a narrow path, kept clear, runs to a 
platform raised high between the two great columns. 
The door opens. Soldiers In armor and with weapons 
issue therefrom. Among them and towering above 
them, with hair hanging far down his back, comes the 
strong man, so long and in so many ways the scourge 
of the Philistines. His eyes turn hither and thither but 
see nothing, for he has been blinded. The very sight 
of him, blind, and in custody, causes many to shrink 

425 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

with fear. Others mock and demand an exhibition of 
his strength. This is given at length and in many ways, 
till he is permitted to rest for a while between the 
columns. He winds one of his long arms around each 
of the pillars; he bends forward and puts forth all his 
strength, when lo ! he and the columns go down to- 
gether and the roof falls in upon the multitude, slaying, 
wounding or suffocating the vast assembly. 

1. Many pictures of the Passion, In Samson and not 
one only. Slaying thousands with the jawbone of a 
dead ass. Ass our Lord, the jawbone His word. 
Fountain issuing from the jawbone. Life and refresh- 
ment coming of His word. 

2. Carrying away the gates of Gaza. Our Lord's 
carrying away the gates of Limbo. 

3. Catching foxes, fastening them two and two with 
a firebrand between. Our Lord winning His disciples, 
making them wise and sending them out two and two 
with the fire of the Spirit, to burn up the harvest of this 
world. 

4. Dalila legally his wife ; stands for Jewish church. 
Her wiles to discover Samson's secret. The artifices 
of the Jews to entrap our Lord and to make Him con- 
fess His divinity. The cutting of the hair, meaning, 
blinding Samson. Blindfolding Christ. 

5. Two columns pulled down In our Lord's death. 
A desire of temporal things. Fear of God and of the 
cost of subduing ourselves and conforming ourselves 
to God. 

6. More slain by death than by life. 

Meditate on. To become strong we must know our- 
selves to be helpless. 

Sixth Tableau 
The Passover 

Composition of place. A large upper room scantily 
furnished. In the center a table. Six on each side of 
426 



Notes for the Three Hours' Agony 

the table; eleven downcast, sad, evidently in the 
shadow of some great grief impending; one worse 
than sad, — ill at ease, at war with himself, and in his 
roving eyes and general restlessness showing that he 
feels himself entirely out of place. On the table is the 
lamb roasted and whole. On the table also dishes of 
round, thin unleavened bread. At the head of the table 
stands one acting as Father and Host and showing in 
His Face and mien more of dignity and tenderness than 
any other ever displayed; under His hand are a flagon 
of wine and a large chalice, and a vessel of water. He 
pours wine into the chalice and mingles with it a little 
water. Then He says: "With desire I have desired 
to eat this pasch with you before I suffer." Luke xxii. 
15. "Take, and divide it among you: for I say to 
you, that I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, till 
the kingdom of God come." Luke xxii. 18. 

1. The lamb of the Passover was to be without 
blemish of any kind. The perfections of Christ. 

2. It was to be of the first year; the eternal youth, 
the undying Life of Christ. 

3. It might be taken from among kids or lambs 
proper: kids, sinners; lambs, the just. 

This signifies Christ genuinely offering Himself and 
undergoing His passion and death for the lost as well 
as the saved. 

4. Slain in the evening and in Jerusalem. And then 
In the evening of both Jews and Gentiles, Christ slain. 

5. It was to be roasted whole with head and feet 
and interior appurtenances. The completeness of 
Christ's sacrifice of Himself. Altogether devoured 
by the fire of His love for us. 

6. No bone was to be broken. Literally fulfilled in 
Christ. Morally also, as Implying that all His pur- 
poses were and are fulfilled, even when apparently most 
thwarted. 

7. Nothing to be left over till the next morning. 

427 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

No use and appropriation of the sacrifice when the 
morning of another life shall have arrived. 

Meditate upon — " He that loveth his life shall lose 
it: and he that hateth his life In this world, keepeth it 
unto life eternal." John xli. 25. 



428 



NOTES FOR LENTEN SERMONS 

St. Peter's, Wilmington 

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1 9 

A WHY our Lord made so much use of parables. 
•^ ^' B. Mysterlousness of Holy Writ seen in the 
fact that St. Luke alone gives the parable of the Prodi- 
gal son. 

C. Why two sons only? Jew and Gentile. 

D. Why the younger is the apostate? 

E. Why no mother Is mentioned or implied? 

F. Contradiction of prevalent errors as to the de- 
terminativeness of heredity and environment. 

G. Comfort for parents. When they have done all, 
some of the children will go astray. But to return in 
the end. 

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 26 

" Father, give me the portion of substance that fall- 
eth to me. And he divided unto them his substance." 
Luke XV. 12. 

A. Holy Writ deserves minute consideration; one 
asks, and to both division is made. What is meant by 
this? Greater liberty granted to some becomes inev- 
itably a grant to all. The some Gentiles asked, all re- 
ceived. Thus in the Church Catholic also. He did 
therefore divide to the Gentiles. Hence things in 
Holy Writ and In antiquity elsewhere. But how does 
the Father, God Himself, divide to His children? He 
literally gives all to each, yet He divides also. But how 
does He divide at the request of the disloyal in heart? 
He does not actively, but He does In effect. He wills 
that all should be one but He lets those separate who 
429 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

will separate and take away with them from His house- 
hold as much of the truth as they may choose to keep 
and as much of grace as they are competent to retain. 

B. So much as to men in general; now as to the 
individual soul. The younger son says in effect: I want 
more liberty, more independence. In how many fami- 
lies is the younger son literally reproduced! And in 
the great family, the Church, how many younger sons 
craving more liberty are found all the time. 

C. The younger son's request not suddenly reached. 
An approach to it for some time previous; so always. 

D. Take care as to small infidelities and withstand 
the beginnings of evil tendencies. 



430 



LENT 

Downfall and Restoration of the Soul as 
PAINTED IN Parable of the Prodigal Son 

Wednesday, February ig. Before downfall. 

Wednesday, February 26. Beginning of downfall. 
" Give me the portion falling to me," — interior sepa- 
ration from the Father. 

Wednesday, March 4, Downfall completed in ex- 
terior separation. " He gathered together all and went 
into a far country." 

Wednesday, March ii. First consequence of down- 
fall. " He spent all." 

Wednesday, March 18. Second consequence. In 
dire want and forced to hire himself to feed swine. 

Wednesday, March 25. Repentance and return. 

WEDNESDAY IN HOLY WEEK, APRIL I, I 896 

The crown of thorns — no real crown ever made of 
anything else save thorns. 

THURSDAY IN HOLY WEEK, APRIL 2, I 896 

Five wounds — few among many. Five selected to 
teach us that we must be wounded and weakened as to 
the use of the five senses. 

GOOD FRIDAY, APRIL 3, I 896 

First our Lord carries and controls the cross. At 
last the cross carries and controls Him. 

THREE hours' PRAYER. GOOD FRIDAY, APRIL 3 

A. What is death in itself? B. Whence caused 
and produced? C. Effects palpable. Destruction of 

431 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

sense and we reduced to intellect and will, and what 
we can make of them. D. Effects invisible in soul. 
Determining and fixing once for all one's value and 
one's destiny. E. Death inevitable and why? F. Al- 
ways before our eyes, but time, place and manner 
thereof hidden and why? G. Takes place once and 
once only. H. Supreme act of sacrifice and penance. 
I. Unconsidered, cause of all sin. Duly recognized, 
cause of all goodness and wisdom. 

This probably was the last occasion Bishop Curtis 
preached the Three Hours' Prayer. He had prepared 
to preach on the foregoing notes, but suddenly changed 
his mind, owing, as he believed, to an inspiration that 
came to him In his morning meditation to take Instead 
the Five Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary. These 
were the most touching discourses he ever preached, 
capable of melting a heart of adamant and of pro- 
ducing Intensest horror of sin In the soul of any but a 
reprobate, and yet these masterful discourses were, as 
to all human artifice, utterly spontaneous and im- 
promptu, but none the less to all who heard them 
divinely inspired. 



432 



VI 

EXTRACTS FROM THE EARLY 
FATHERS 

FOUND IN A NOTE-BOOK IN THE BISHOP'S 
HANDWRITING 



DOCTRINAL EXTRACTS FROM THE 
GREEK FATHERS^ 

AND SOME OTHERS FROM PAGAN AUTHORS 

ORIGEN 

r^ONTRA CELSUM, Lib. I. p. 644: The Lord was 
^ silent before His accusers because He held that 
His life and deeds among the Jews were a better refu- 
tation of the calumnies than could be given in mere 
words. 

P. 756: Mention made of the grotto of Bethlehem 
and of the stall therein and the identity then acknowl- 
edged even by the unbelievers. 

P- 775 * Origen makes Levi and Matthew different 
persons and says that the former was not among the 
Apostles. 

lb., Lib. II. p. 797 : According to Origen the many 
things the Lord had to say which were reserved because 
the disciples were not then able to bear them, related, 
some of them at least, to the abrogation of Judaism and 
the call of the Gentiles. 

P. 832: Perhaps the Lord anticipating the time of 
natural death voluntarily before the time withdrew 
His soul that His legs might not be broken. 

P. 845 : The Lord said, " Let this cup pass from 
Me," not on His own account, but as foreseeing and 
deprecating the total ruin which His murder would 
bring upon the Jews. 

P. 872: "The lame man shall leap as a hart" 
(Isaiah). He refers to the leaping of the hart /o" 
his hostility to serpents and his leaping upon them to 
kill them. 

* Edit. Maurinorum (Migne). 

' This to was inadvertently written by the Bishop instead of »«, as we 
suppose. — Editors. 

435 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

Ih., Lib. IV. p. 1096: Origen understands the ark 
to have had its roof ascending with four planes from 
each side and end and these four planes to have met in 
the middle and there terminated in a square of one 
cubit. 

P. 1 145: He denies the assertion of Celsus that 
Providence has as much respect to irrational as to 
rational creatures and maintains that the irrational are 
provided for only as a condition of the end which is to 
take care of man. 

lb., Lib. V. p. 1256: Names the son of Moses, 
whom Zipporah circumcised, Eleazar, and understands 
the Angel as an evil angel and hence restrained by the 
circumcision; says, too, that the Jews counted circum- 
cision not made on the eighth day as not afterwards of 
obligation or value. In the same place notes the differ- 
ence between the Septuagint and the Hebrew, the latter 
saying, " A husband of blood thou to me." The for- 
mer, " the blood of the circumcision of my child has 
stayed or stood." 

lb., Lib. VI. p. 1 269 : Celsus says that the Christians 
supposed the warm springs to be the tears of the angels 
condemned and imprisoned under the earth. 

P. 13 13: Plato says that it is impossible that one 
should be at the same time very rich and very good. 
Celsus accuses Christ of having made use of Plato. 
Origen laughs at the notion that the reputed son of a 
Jewish carpenter not versed even in the literature of 
the Jews had read and admired Plato. 

P. 1317: Origen like St. Bernard understands that 
the seraphim seen by Isaiah cover with their wings not 
each his own face and feet, but the Feet and Face of 
God. 

P. 1332: Origen seems to hint at rather than state 
his belief in Purgatory. 

P. 135 1 : Note — quotation from Justin Mart^T — 
also says that Christ was a carpenter making ploughs 
and yokes. 

436 



Extracts from the Early Fathers 

P. 1364: Scape-goat, type of the Devil. 

P. 1365: Orlgen considers, it seems, the Book of 
Job older than those of Moses. 

Pp. 1368-69-71-72: Antichrist. As in the man 
Jesus the apex of the good, so in Antichrist the apex of 
evil — and evil all the worse as counterfeiting the 
good. Antichrist, foretold in Daniel by the King, 
" understanding riddles, etc.," " abomination making 
desolate in the Temple," answers best Paul's " seating 
himself in the Temple of God and showing himself as 
God." 

P. 1393 : Origen faults Celsus for not distinguishing 
between the " Image of God " and " according to the 
Image of God." The first proper to Christ alone, the 
second said of man. 

P. 1401 : Something worth seeing as to the Incarna- 
tion in general and the transfiguration in particular. 
Christ dwelling in us carries us up into the high spirit- 
ual mountain and there shows us His own Glory — 
the glory of the Law spiritually understood symbolized 
by Moses and of prophecy represented by Elias. 

P. 141 6: " But to those who have received hence to 
follow Him even up into the high mountain He has 
a mere Divine Form, which they see, that is, if any 
one is a Peter containing the structure of the Church 
in himself and receiving such a constitution or habitude 
that no gate of Hell may be able to prevail against 
him, he having been exacted by the word from the gates 
of death that he may declare all the praises of God in 
the gates of the daughter of Zion." 

Ih., Lib. VII.: In the beginning, strictures upon 
Apollo and the Pythones. Heathen /xaz^reZai compared 
with prophecy. 

P. 1440: The vinegar and gall stand for the malice 
of men of which Christ is continually made to taste 
and which He always refuses to drink. 

P. 1448 : Celsus objects that Christ, who had recom- 
mended poverty and threatened riches, also had disal- 

437 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

lowed force and commanded raTreivoavvrjVy could not 
be either the God or the ambassador of the God who 
had promised the Jews wealth — had required them 
to expunge their enemies and had in all ways shown 
great sevx^rity and jealousy of His dominion. Origen 
answers 1448-9-52-53 mainly that the law had two 
senses and that the spiritual sense was the better and 
the one chiefly intended. 

Dialogiis Adaviantis. 

P- 1757 • John the Baptist — the precursor of 
Christ in Hades as well as on earth. 

/;/ Exodiim. 

P. 277 : As one having been very kind to his ser- 
vants and they having abused to their ruin his kindness 
is accustomed to say: "I have ruined you; I have 
made you wicked," though in very deed he has not been 
either the cause or the necessary occasion of their ruin 
since his kindness ought to have made them more lov- 
ing and faithful. So God says to Pharaoh, or of 
Pharaoh, I have hardened his heart, that Is, my for- 
bearance against my Intention has simply made him 
more stiffnecked and presumptuous. 

P. 285 : The Paschal Lamb to be eaten in one house 
only, that Is, we cannot at the same time partake of 
Christ In the Church and In a heretical or schismatlcal 
communion. 

P. 994: David's eating the shewbread prefigured 
that his descendant, the Messiah, was to discharge at 
the same time the functions of King and Priest. 

P. 1089: Origen's Jew told him that the Scriptures 
are like many homes contained in one house, while to 
each home Is affixed a key not opening the house to 
which It Is assigned. Hence the labor Is to find here 
and there the key pertaining to each particular door. 
That Is, If we would understand one place of Scripture 
we shall find its solution In Itself, but by resorting to 

438 



Extracts from the Early Fathers 

other places for the clues by which it is to be under- 
stood. Hence St. Paul says " comparing spiritual 
things with spiritual." 

In Psalmos. Ps. xxi. 

P. 1253-56: Passage implying it seems Catholic 
doctrine as to our Lord's birth and as to His having 
been even in infancy perfect in wisdom and knowledge. 

P. 1257: The bones of the Pasch not to be broken 
are the Dogmas of the Church. 

In Jeremiam. 

P. 356 : The perpetual generation of the Son by the 
Father. Illustrated by the perpetual production of 
light on the part of a luminary and of wisdom in the 
mind of the wise. 

Commentary on St. Matthew. 

P. 876: He gives a tradition with respect to St. 
Joseph having had a wife before he espoused the 
Blessed Virgin Mary, and having children by this wife 
called in consequence our Lord's brethren. 

P. 989: Leaven stands always for teaching. Hence 
leaven was never to be offered with the Sacrifices as 
signifying that prayers must never teach but simply ask 
or render glory to God. 

P. 1073.: He supposes St. Peter to have said, 
" Lord, it is good for us to be here," under the instiga- 
tion of the same evil spirit which had tempted him to 
oppose the Lord's passion some days before, on account 
of which evil spirit the Lord had then styled him 
" Satan and a scandal." 

P. 1556-7: Recognizes and states the difference be- 
tween the ** visio abstractiva et visio intuitiva " of God 
and clearly asserts the Beatific Vision. 

Commentary on St. John's Gospel. 

Tom. L p. 52: Every true Christian the son of 
Mary. 

439 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

Tom. II. p. 129: Ascribes the procession of the Holy 
Spirit to the Son. 

Tom. II. p. 145: He implies that the sanctification 
and immortality are essentially " indebita." 

/// Matth^um, Tom. XL 

P. 548 : Something as to the Eucharist, which implies 
more or less clearly the Real Presence. 

P. 1128-29: The question "Who is the greater?" 
suggested by our Lord's having paid tribute for Him- 
self and Peter alone. 

Lihellus de Oratione, Tom. I. 

P. 448 : Invocation of Angels and Saints. In this 
same treatise are many quotations from the deutero- 
canonical books. 

P. 540-4: seems to teach purgatory very plainly. 

ST. CHRYSOSTOM 
Epistola /® ad Olympiadevi. 

P. 554 : Christ scourged eV ixear^ix^pLa fMeay. 

Epistola 2" ad eandem. 

P. ^6^ : Job knew nothing of the resurrection. 

Epistola 4.^ ad eandem. 

P. 592 : Job was older than Moses. 

Vol. III. p. 20: Peter the coryphaeus of the Apostles 
— the mouth of the disciples, the pillar of the Church, 
the fundament of the faith, the basis of the confession, 
the fisher of the world. He bringing up our race from 
the deeps of error unto Heaven. 

P. 174—5 : Tlerpavyap KOiXaivec pavU vSdrcov ivSeXe'x^ova-a. 

P. 197-8: the distinction between counsel and pre- 
cept. 

Adversus Jiid^os. 

P. 951 : " Peter first of the Apostles and entrusted 
with the whole world." 

440 



Extracts from the Early Fathers 

Horn. VIII. in Epistolam ad Philippenses. 

P. 246: "If he had Hved perhaps he would have 
changed, one says. But God would not have taken him 
if he had been going to be changed. For He that is 
doing everything for our salvation, why would not He 
suffer him to do better? If He spares those who do 
not change, much rather would He spare those going 
to amend." 

(Confirmed by Cyrill Alex. Vol. V. Comment, in St. 
Matt. p. 393.) 

Vol. XIII. p. 279 : Some thought the term " genuine 
yokefellow " an address to St. Paul's wife. But St. 
Chrysostom denies it. 

Vol. II. p. 506: Questioning and seeking, incom- 
patible with faith. 

P. 554: Bishops excel presbyters in the power only 
of ordination. 

P. ^^^: Angels did not see the Son of God till after 
the Incarnation. 

ST. GREGORY NYSSEN 

Vita Moys'is. 

P. 95 : Transubstantiation. Perpetual Virginity of 
Mary. 

P. 338: Two angels according to tradition to each 
man. 

P. 357: Another reason for not breaking; the bones 
of the Paschal Lamb: Bones are broken in order to 
get at the marrow, the innermost part of the animal. 
In our dogmas for which bones stand, there is an inner- 
most something which is not for man at present. And 
we must break the dogmas only In the attempt to iiet 
at their marrow or their deepest and most hidden 
meaning. 

P. 421 : Ascribes the speaking of the ass of Balaam 

not to the power of God, but to that of the demon and 

throughout he considers Balaam not as in any wise a 

prophet of God, but that of the Devil. Illustrates his 

441 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

speaking the truth by reference to the demons of the 
New Testament who gave testimony to the Lord 
against their own will. 

P. 1053: "For this Birth was without travail as 
without marriage. But as a Son was given to us with- 
out a father so also the child without travail was born. 
For as the Virgin did not know how the divinely re- 
ceived Body was composed, so neither was she sensible 
of the birth, the prophecy indeed bearing witness to 
the painlessness of this Birth. For, saith Isaias: ' Be- 
fore the coming of the pangs of delivery she produced 
and brought forth a Male.' " 

Vol. III. p. 524 : " That then, power of choice might 
remain with our nature and yet that evil might be at 
the same time obliterated, the wisdom of God con- 
trived this method, to wit, to leave man in that state 
which he had himself chosen, that having tasted evil and 
having learned by trial what an exchange he had made, 
he might return through his own desire willingly to the 
first blessedness. Having purged his nature from 
everything irrational and concupiscent as being a mere 
burden either during the present life by prayer and phi- 
losophy or after his departure hence by the purgation 
of the smelting fire." A clear testimony In favor of 
purgatory if St. Gregory believed in the endlessness 
and irremedlableness of Hell as I suppose he did. 

P. 648 : " Identifies Mary the mother of James and 
Joses with the Blessed Virgin Mary, these being the 
sons of St. Joseph by a former wife." 

P. 312: '* Through Peter He (Christ) gave to the 
Bishops the keys of the celestial honors." 

ST. CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA 

Vol. I. p. 513: " Corban as it Is a gift," explained. 

Vol. II. p. 285: "The divinely Illuminated Peter, 
he having precedence among the disciples and overstep- 
ping the others." 

442 



Extracts from the Early Fathers 

P. 308: The scope of the divinely Inspired Scrip- 
ture Is to signify the mystery of Christ through as many 
things as possible. One might liken the Scripture to a 
splendid and distinguished city, having not one image 
only of the king but a great many and these In every 
place conspicuously set up. 

P. 352 : Affirms Joseph's marriage and ascribes chil- 
dren to that marriage. 

Vol. IV. p. 377. Commentary upon Joel — cBtov av- 
Tov re, (ylov) /cal iv avTot^ ical i^ avrov to Tivev/uLo, iariv. 

Vol. V. p. 432. Comment upon St. Matthew: Tran- 
substantlatlon. 

Vol. VI. p. 420: St. John's Gospel. 

" Search the Scriptures," Indicative, not imperative. 

P. 456: Item. 

Five loaves of barley, five books of Moses. Two 
fishes, the truth through the Apostles, fishermen. 

P. 722: But she (Mary) as yet exercising authority 
over her son on account of the exceedingly great sub- 
jection of the Saviour and as at the same time knowing 
through much experience this subjection even in the 
midst of His divine power, says *' they have no wine." 

Vol. IX. p. 269: Perpetual virginity of Mary 
asserted. 

ST. GREGORY NAZIANZEN 

Vol. II. p. 195: Dost thou not see that of the dis- 
ciples of Christ, all of whom are high and all worthy 
of the election, one was called the rock (97 ire-Tpa) and 
was entrusted with the foundation of the Church? 

P. 352 : "Since one swallow does not make a spring." 

P. 369 : " Who will be surety that the end will tarry 
for our cure and that the judgment shall not receive 
us still in debt and needing the burning there." 

Oratio I. contra Jidiamim. 

Cap. 62 : For It is not according to nature that the 
leopard should rub away his spots or an Ethiopian his 
blackness. 

443 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis, D.D. 

Cap. 59: ''Of whom (the mart}Ts) are the great 
honors and assemblies, by whom Devils are chased 
away and diseases cured, of whom the bodies alone 
have power equal to that possessed by their souls, when 
touched or venerated. Some drops of the blood of 
whom or some small signs of their sufferings produce 
the same effects as their bodies." 

Cap. 99: "Of our legislation some points are im- 
posed under necessity so that to those not observing 
there is danger. But other provisions are not of ne- 
cessity but are left to our choice, and such that if not 
observed, no peril results to the non-observance." 

Oratio ^J, P. VIII. p. 292: Separation merely 
granted in the case of adultery on the part of the wife, 
— nothing else conceded, and this because of the vitia- 
tion of progeny. 

Oratio jp, P. XIX. p. 357 end: Seems a clear in- 
sinuation of the fire of Purgatory. 

CLEMENS ALEXL\XDRIXUS 

Vol. I., Padagoge, L. I. p. 365 : " Honey the sweet- 
est of things is productive of bile: as the good is of 
contempt. But mustard diminishes bile, that is, wrath. 
It is also destructive of phlegm, that is, pride." 

Vol. I., Stromata, L. III. p. 1109: Epiphanes, son 
of Carpocrates, teaches exact and full blown com- 
munism. 

P. 1 128: The Pythagorean prohibition of beans 
referred to the fact that the use of beans was supposed 
to produce sterility in women. 

L. II. cap. 23 : All marriage, adulter}^ if made after 
divorce. 

EPIPHAXIUS 

Vol. I. L. II. p. 1024: Mention of subdeacon as 
obliged to continence. 



444 



Extracts from the Early Fathers 

JUSTIN MARTYR 

Dialogue with Trypho: 

P. 657 : Mentions the cave of Bethlehem as the birth- 
place of Christ. 
P. 712: Item. 
Analogy between Eve and the Blessed Virgin Mary. 

ST. BASIL 

Vol. L, Hexaemeron, Hom. 5, p. 109: At this time 
and in these parts a pine wood when cut down grows 
up in oak. And the same was true in St. Basil's time 
and country. 

Vol. II., Comment, in Isaiam, p. 548 : Auricular 
Confession. 

Epistle 6g: " It appeared to us requisite to send to 
the Bishop of Rome to take cognizance of matters here, 
and to give sentence that since it would be difficult to 
send thence any to us by common decree, he himself 
may exercise full authority as to the matter, and having 
chosen men able to bear the fatigues of the journey 
and sufficient by virtue of combined meekness and rigor 
of conduct to admonish the perverse among us dis- 
creetly and with due consideration of the time making 
use of their word." 

Epistle gj: Communion in one kind and at home. 

ARISTOTLE 

Nikomachean Ethics: One swallow does not make 
spring. 

P. 1118 : A man gluttonous wished his neck as long 
as that of a crane. 

EURIPIDES 

Electra, 294-297 : Grief never comes to the stupid 
but to the wise. And it is not without cost that the wise 
are so wise In their sentiments. 

445 



Rt. Rev. A. A. Curtis D.D. 



TACITUS 



'Annates VI., cap. 28, A. C. 34: Phenix appeared in 
Egypt. 

^SCHYLUS 

Agamemnon^ 251—252: To irpoKkveLv 8' tJXvo-lv irpo- 
^aLperco' taov Be rco irpoaTeveiv. 

( The following extracts from St. Bernard were 
found written on the cover of the Bishop's note-hook.) 

St. Bernard. Latatiis. De Passione. 

P. 1596: " CIrcumcisio delebat in patribus originale 
peccatum sicut Baptismus in nobis." 

P. 1598: *' Quae sola (id est, virgo) per illud triste 
sabbatum stetit in fide et salvata fuit Ecclesia in ipsa 
sola. Propter quod aptissime tota Ecclesia in laudem 
et gloriam ejusdem virginis diem sabbati per totius 
anni circulum celebrare consuevit." 



446 



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